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New DVD chips 'to kill illegal copying'

16 September 2006 3:15 by Ben "Lethal_B" Reid | 335 comments

DVDs will soon be embedded with radio transmitter chips which will allow the major movie studios to remotely track individual discs as they travel from factories to retail shelves and to consumers' homes. The studios hope the technology, which can be used for Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs as well as normal DVDs, will prevent unlawful copying and pirating of their films.

The companies behind the new advance say living room DVD players will eventually be able to check on the chip embedded in a disc, and reject any discs which have been copied or played in the 'wrong' geographical region. Ritek Corp., parent company of U-tech Media, which will manufacture the discs, is currently the world's largest DVD maker.

"This technology holds the potential to protect the intellectual property of music companies, film studios, gaming and software developers worldwide," claimed Ritek's chief exec. Gordon Yeh.

U-Tech, along with IPICO, the company behind the RFID chips to be used in the discs, confirmed on Friday that production of these new 'chipped' DVDs will begin at U-Tech's main plant in Taiwan. Once extensive testing is complete, home DVD players will be embedded with RFID readers to extend the anti-copying technology into homes as part of a digital rights management (DRM) system.

IPICO claims that its RFID tags can be read a minimum six metres away, and at a rate of thousands of tags per minute. The chips will not require a battery, as they'll be powered by the energy in radio waves from the RFID reader.

The president of IPICO, Gordon Westwater, added: "[This is the] first step towards new international standards to safeguard optical media, and the subsequent adoption of the chip-on-disc concept as a global standard."

Could this new technology see a realistic end to optical disc piracy?

Source:
vnunet.com

Permalink to this article

French DRM law is 'unconstitutional' (1 August 2006)

DRM free MP3 music from Yahoo! Music (21 July 2006)

Anti-DRM group to take on RIAA (23 June 2006)

More artists take a stand against DRM (16 December 2005)

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Discuss this article!	There are more user comments available, read them here
Dunker (Senior Member) 9 October 2006 12:30
Like I said before, if you feel so strongly about this, then write your Congressman, Senator, and state reps and politely let them know you want them to draft a "consumer's bill of rights" to permit legal copying and DRM circumvention, and that you will base your vote on whether they act and how they vote. You'd be surprised how effective it is, especially if you get other people to write as well. One letter represents 500-1000 constituents (note I didn't say email, but a letter: congresspeople don't give a sh!t about emails and online petitions), so get busy. -Don't be a sucker - don't buy Blu-ray or HD-DVD! -It's not a coincidence RIAA and MPAA are four-letter words. -Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs. Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. If you have burn problems with these then you have to upate your drive's firmware. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 9 October 2006 12:30
slautterb (Inactive) 14 October 2006 2:58
And In Any Shape Or Form, Take Back What Your Grandparents, Parents, and you That Never Had Protection From The Corp, Greed Who's Families Are Well Set For Generations. Think About It There Is No Real Buyers Protection. Try Taking Back That CD That Is Painful To Listen To ETC. Don't Be Sheeple Out There, Lets Geterdone Dham it. [ + quote]
Mez (Senior Member) 16 October 2006 4:28
If you are going to write your congressman, ask why copywrite laws are 100 years and patents are only 17. Since the patents cost hundreds of times more money to develope than a idea for a copywrite why do they get so much more time to pay back the investment? By that patent guideline they should only get 5 years. [ + quote]
Dunker (Senior Member) 16 October 2006 9:53
Well, that's an excellent argument to use. -Don't be a sucker - don't buy Blu-ray or HD-DVD! -It's not a coincidence RIAA and MPAA are four-letter words. -Since half the questions here involve media problems, here ya go: Only use Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden discs. Forget the rest, no matter what "brand" they sell under. If you have burn problems with these then you have to upate your drive's firmware. For double-layer discs, only use Verbatim. [ + quote]
aone (Newbie) 12 May 2007 12:55
why are they going all Big Brother on us? and how much do you think this will up the price of the dvd? cause i mean, SOMEONE has to be watching all those pirates out there. ridiculous. and haha, can you imagine? america's most wanted candidate A is bored one day and decides to buy a DVD using the stolen credit card of one of his victims and gets caught cause he wanted to watch Season 1 of Jackass? hah. and wow, i'm jealous of those of you with extensive dvd collections AND backups. i have my own "extensive" dvd collection (somewhere between 200-300 titles), and i consider at most, 10 of them to be fantastic enough to bother backing up. which i don't cause i've seen them so much i don't wanna see them anymore. is it possible to sue companies for false advertisement? they made the movie look great, but anyway.../rant and ematrix, you're awesome. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12 May 2007 12:59
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 12 May 2007 13:42
Originally posted by aone: why are they going all Big Brother on us? and how much do you think this will up the price of the dvd? cause i mean, SOMEONE has to be watching all those pirates out there. ridiculous. and haha, can you imagine? america's most wanted candidate A is bored one day and decides to buy a DVD using the stolen credit card of one of his victims and gets caught cause he wanted to watch Season 1 of Jackass? hah. and wow, i'm jealous of those of you with extensive dvd collections AND backups. i have my own "extensive" dvd collection (somewhere between 200-300 titles), and i consider at most, 10 of them to be fantastic enough to bother backing up. which i don't cause i've seen them so much i don't wanna see them anymore. is it possible to sue companies for false advertisement? they made the movie look great, but anyway.../rant and ematrix, you're awesome. ===================================================================== Because Big brother can sit by you hold your hand make sure you behave while fondling you and telling you what to buy..... [ + quote]
sammorris (AfterDawn Addict) 12 May 2007 15:03
It's sad you believe what big brother says. I happened to not buy a DVD. So sue me. That's not to say I got it illegally, I just didn't want it. There are many films people have been ecstatic about seeing, which I've just responded with "meh". Every once in a while, there's a really good film. A lot of the time, however, it's a bit too much like Deja vu, and I'm not a regular cinema-goer, far from it, and yet it's claimed piracy is an enormous cause of lost income in the movie industry. I can't help but wonder whether an IQ of <100 is a condition of employment for the MPAA/RIAA. Oh no wait, it effectively is, because nobody with half a brain would work for such a stupid organisation. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 12 May 2007 16:23
sammorris I so loved "I'm a emo sipder I cut myself" 3......not...... 2nd to worse venom had a man voice not a demonic one....... there comes a point when you wonder what they are doing...tweens will see anythign thus the watering down effect is not needed...at least not at the potency they mix them at...... [ + quote]
aone (Newbie) 12 May 2007 23:13
Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: Because Big brother can sit by you hold your hand make sure you behave while fondling you and telling you what to buy..... haha, zippy, creep me out. more like Big Uncle than Big Brother. thanks. and yea, i'm a sucker for good advertisement. props to the advertisement people. but how can you know what's good if ya don't see it? only recently have i started actually sifting through reviews and ahem "previewing" the movies before i buy them. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12 May 2007 23:17*
Adamontar (Junior Member) 13 May 2007 2:17
Thats easy someone with enough electronic knowledge can just remove the RFID reader from the player. I once had problem with macrovision in my tv dvd-recorder, I just got the macrovision wiring removed, I can copy anything now HAHA. This move will only encourge people to get movies via illegal methods. It certainly has done that to me. Its illegal to backup your own movies, then why cant you get a replacement disc if your disc is destroyed. Remember your paying for a movie not a plastic disc. Down with microsh$t, long live piracy, its only fair to share. [ + quote]
akoli (Junior Member) 13 May 2007 15:34
Have a feeling this great new thing will fall on its arse like everything ele....all sounds good in theory...but putting the money in to R&D and getting a workable version in the market that doesn't cost too much......plus I fuarantee before the product is even released its already been cracked.......I just dont know why they bother ......theres always someone with some spare time thats 10 times smarter than those that design the product.....I for one will be just downloading if thats the way its gonna go .....They can go fuck themselves thas what they get for being so greedy !!! [ + quote]
aralerm (Junior Member) 29 July 2007 13:52
What will happen if I play these dvds in a media centre or on my PC? does it mean that each DVD driver mounted in new PCs in the future will have the capability to read this chipped DVDs? I do not think so...then the best is to hang on my modded PS2 or my "old" dvd player or get a new one multiregion before they implement this measure...for sure hackers will come up with a way to circumvent even this technology ahaha [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 29 July 2007 14:19
*Originally posted by aralerm:* What will happen if I play these dvds in a media centre or on my PC? does it mean that each DVD driver mounted in new PCs in the future will have the capability to read this chipped DVDs? I do not think so...then the best is to hang on my modded PS2 or my "old" dvd player or get a new one multiregion before they implement this measure...for sure hackers will come up with a way to circumvent even this technology ahaha they will either have to make the new discs not work on older players or old media wont work on new players. [ + quote]
SCAMPER (Member) 29 July 2007 17:31
They would lean toward making old discs incompatible. That would result in more sales of dvd players, and eliminate CSS copy protection on new releases. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 29 July 2007 17:35
*Originally posted by SCAMPER:* They would lean toward making old discs incompatible. That would result in more sales of dvd players, and eliminate CSS copy protection on new releases. pretty much planed obsulsances is very important to them >> [ + quote]
sammorris (AfterDawn Addict) 30 July 2007 0:01
Did you mean Obsolescence? lol [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 30 July 2007 5:29
*Originally posted by sammorris:* Did you mean Obsolescence? lol ya that too :P [ + quote]
rdmercer1 (Senior Member) 7 October 2007 2:56
bc_grl you say! (I am considering copying all of my own since my Law & Order (3rd yr) series has worn out and is unplayable. did this happen from playing this dvd to much? if so i have never seen or heard of it, because there is nothing touching the dvd but the lazer.so there can be no ware [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 7 October 2007 8:48
wow just wow, so then recordable media will be deemed useless and all the camcorders dvd playback rendered void, and studios able to track the disc through the credit card purchase. big brother is the media corporations, and that's who controls the american government, but i cant see this taking off around the globe due to privacy advocates and stricter laws on human monitoring outside the free and just usa. so when all citezens of the usa are fitted with their rfid tags at birth and credits replace dollars the ruling elite will have all their bills passed to watch the world though the fear of piracy and terrorism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urmtozaslsc&mode=related&search= http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doci...earch&plindex=0 Track What Companies Have Edited Wiki http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (very heavy load atm) [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7 October 2007 8:51
RacoonDad (Newbie) 7 October 2007 10:22
It's a game, like everything else to do with computers and technology. Someone tries to block something and someone else develops a crack. This scenario keeps repeating itself ad infinitum. This is just like the neverending story and will continue until Big Brother decides to take everyone who is copying music, movies, books, etc. to court and sue their butts off. There are not enough courts in the world to ever accomplish this. Beatles' song: "Say You Want A Revolution" [ + quote]
furchtlos (Newbie) 7 October 2007 11:37
These people are retards. Someone develops something like this, and within a couple of days a way around it is found and its passed through the net. This happens for all this sort of shit. Their just idiots. [ + quote]
RacoonDad (Newbie) 7 October 2007 11:49
furchtlos, Your reply is short and to the point. I agree totally! [ + quote]
darkmetal (Junior Member) 7 October 2007 18:01
Yes they are just wasting there time.. They should just allow backup of of audio and video. Because i bought a cd and i wanted to load it onto my itunes then to my ipod and i did but it wouldn't play because the DRM fucked it all up.. Which really pissed me off because i bought the CD! They get so wound up on how to stop copying and never fix the problem they are making with the copy prevention software.. Just stop ... You making this country look like its full of communist!! [ + quote]
beatsuite (Newbie) 8 October 2007 1:22
Releasing new protection technology in my opinion only effects one type of person. The legitimate, law-abiding user who isn't too clued up on the whole backup/transferring scene and poor Joe Bloggs who purchased a CD for his wife but would also like to listen to it on his iPod gets screwed over. The pirates, the hackers, who exploit media such as DVDs and CDs won't be stopped. They just Google forums to see what they need to do to bypass it and the piracy continues. Piracy will always be around, ALWAYS. It's unfortunate but it always will be, like car theft, like screening a movie to friends, it'll always be. The only people who are effected by stupid copyright protection rubbish is the honest paying customer. http://www.beatsuite.com - Royalty Free Music [ + quote]
club42 (Member) 8 October 2007 6:42
Read this http://www.spychips.com/faqs.html for more rfid info. I don't get why they would advertise this ahead of production. Rfid's are already in some credit cards and in the future I could see big retail stores and car lots having rfid readers so that the salesman knows if your a compulsive spender or not. All in the name of consumer convenience. Welcome to corporate America. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8 October 2007 6:43
club42 (Member) 8 October 2007 6:51
*Quote:* Marketers, criminals, and government agents will find the information on RFID tags to be a tempting target for exploitation and abuse. Marketers will use RFID to identify people at a distance and determine their tastes and spending habits through the items they wear and carry. Today, billions of dollars are spent annually to collect and share consumer "intelligence." In-store tracking technologies like floor sensors, heat sensors, hidden cameras, hidden microphones, GPS-enabled grocery carts, and phony shoppers are all used to gather information. RFID will greatly simplify the task of collecting such consumer data � particularly if consumers can be automatically identified while walking in the door. RFID-based consumer tracking products are already available in the marketplace. For example, IBM offers a bank application called "Margaret" that would use RFID tags embedded in checkbooks, savings passbooks, and ATM cards to identify customers as they enter a bank lobby. According to IBM's description, a reader device would scan the tags and communicate the customer's bank balance to employees, allowing them to give preferential treatment to more valuable clients. Texas Instruments is promoting an RFID-enabled loyalty card product that could be read right through a shopper's purse as she enters the store. Their website explains how "a consumer with a TI-RFid tag in their purse, pocket, or wallet can be detected by reader systems at doorways. Readout antennas can also be in counters, walls, and in floors." It also details how "the technology can tell retailers exactly who's in their store at any given moment, while offering full purchase histories for each shopper. In addition, stores will know what the customer bought at their last visit, and what they might need for accessories." Criminals will also take a keen interest in RFID information. Thieves could use handheld RFID readers to determine the contents of suitcases or shopping bags and to identify "easy marks." Voyeurs and stalkers could scan the contents of women's purses or capture details about the style and color of their undergarments right through their clothes. Perhaps most worrisome, government agencies and law enforcement officials could use the technology to violate the Fourth Amendment. The federal government has repeatedly expressed a desire to consolidate transaction information from commercial databases into a single, centralized database under its control. Once such transaction data includes unique EPC serial numbers linked to the identity of purchasers, RFID tags could be scanned at strategic locations and used to identify people that pass by as well as surreptitiously scan their belongings. A rogue federal agency could use RFID to create dossiers on citizens engaged in peaceful, First-Amendment-protected activities. Depending on one's politics, this might be a union meeting, a gun show, a peace march, or a talk by a prominent Muslim cleric. By walking through the crowd with an RFID reader device hidden in a briefcase, agents could capture information from RFID tags on objects carried by people attending the event. That data could be cross referenced with records in commercial databases to determine who was present. *Quote:* Last year Gillette and Wal-Mart were implicated in a scheme to take close-up photographs of consumers' faces as they picked up RFID-tagged Gillette razor packages in a U.S. Wal-Mart store. Gillette has hinted at the continued use of these "smart shelves" elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad, but has refused to directly answer consumer queries on the subject. In a similar case, RFID tags were hidden in Procter & Gamble Lipfinity lipstick on shelves in an Oklahoma Wal-Mart store last year. Customers interacted with the lipsticks, not knowing that Procter & Gamble executives had trained a webcam on the display to observe them from their offices 750 miles away. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 8 October 2007 6:55