Truth in DVD advertising wanted

Fri 11 October 2002 : Truth in DVD advertising wanted

Recently I visited the US and I got exposure to some of the TV there.
Although my primary interest was some of the programming used to fill
the gaps between commercials, I also saw some of the commercials.

Commercials that use even the slightest form of exaggeration in
physical form have tiny letters in the bottom of the screen with
disclaimers such as "Done by professional stuntdrivers on a closed
circuit" or "Screen images were added later".

But commercials for DVD are different. The commercials say (especially
the ones from Disney, which stuck in my mind for some reason) :

"You can now own this movie on DVD!"

This is a blatant lie.

Given the developments in DVD and the direction the "entertainment
industry" is going, the correct text should be:

"You can now buy a revocable license to play this DVD on licensed
equipment in the right region of the world for a limited audience"

Because the DVD will only play on DVD players for which the DVD
royalties have been payed enough to get all the DVD player keys.

And DVD player keys can be revoked. The whole thing with DVD 'encryption'
is that there are 400 player keys and that a future DVD can omit the
key of a player (this fact is used to remind DVD player builders to keep
playing by the rules of the DVD consortium).

DVD players have the whole region thing. I'm not going to delve
into that subject any further.

In the Dutch version, the warning at the beginning (the unskippable
part) tells you the DVD can only be watched in a small family circle
("Huiselijke kring"). Presumably you need a different DVD (with a
different pricetag) if you want to show it at the sports club.

So, I propose that the advertising of DVDs should be changed to reflect
all this.

Sources:
http://dvddemystified.com/
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/dvd-bogk.html
http://www.tbtf.com/resource/CSS-Leitner.html

Most recent entries
Voorsprong door achterstand: electriciteitsnetwerken worden fiberleveranciers
Last updated Tue 13 July 2010
Witnessing an attack on an Asterisk server
Last updated Thu 05 February 2009
Using the Netgear EVA 8000 HD with a linux server
Last updated Sun 18 January 2009
Review Netgear EVA 8000 HD
Last updated Sun 18 January 2009
De rol van Asterisk in de telefoniewereld
Last updated Mon 15 September 2008
My take on Microsoft wants to buy yahoo
Last updated Fri 01 February 2008
The server room as multistable climate system
Last updated Wed 09 January 2008
Comparing tvtime and XawTV
Last updated Fri 30 November 2007
From VIDEO_TS to working video DVD in Linux
Last updated Tue 27 November 2007
Configuring ssh on a Netgear GSM7224/GSM7248 switch
Last updated Thu 29 March 2007
All entries


Copyright
Valid HTML 4.01!
Valid CSS!
IPv6 ready
The Irregular is an irregular column-like something which I write. Any opinion in The Irregular is my own personal opinion and has nothing to do with any current, past or future employers or any other person/company I may have contact with.

I consider it my copyright what I write here, please get in touch with me if you want to copy/republish it.

Koos van den Hout, koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl
The Virtual Bookcase Camp Wireless webcam.idefix.net Weather maps