Andre Yoskowitz
3 Mar 2010 17:37
FileShareFreak has a very interesting report out today about Cinavia DRM, which is a new audio watermarking technology that takes aim at pirates, and those trying to playback movie downloads via their PlayStation 3s.
The site says the watermarking works by "comparing the source of the audio to the format in which a movie was released (ie theatrical or commercial disc), and if the watermarked audio source detects a difference, the movie will either be mute (but most likely not play at all)."
To date, it has been found in a TS version of "The Wolfman" that has been popular via P2P and torrent sites.
"Movies protected by Cinavia technology carry inaudible codes embedded by the copyright owner in their audio tracks that indicate where and how they are allowed to be used. For example, movies that are being released to theaters can carry a Cinavia code that indicates that they are supposed to be duplicated by professional replicators and played back on professional projection equipment only," reads the official site.
The TS version of Wolfman, which uses "line" audio recorded through a headphone jack, had the watermark, and when added to the camera source, the audio did not match (it was searching for theatrical release) and is therefore muted when played back on Blu-ray players and the PS3, which have Cinavia DRM supported.
You can check if your Blu-ray player has the DRM check built-in here, but be noted that ALL new BD players will have it as of the Q1 2010.
Of course, if you are playing the files back on your DVD player or PC, you won't have a problem, as there are none that have Cinavia detectors.
Likely, hackers will find away around this watermark DRM, but for now, the cat-and-mouse game is on.
Read our Cinavia FAQ here: Constantly being updated