Embedded RFID to smack-down DVD piracy

Privacy types are just going to love this one. Major studios, including Warner, Disney and Fox, are prepping to start embedding RFID chips in every DVD produced, enabling them to track the disc from the factory to the store to your home. The chipped DVDs will then be examined by your home DVD player to make sure you're not trying to do anything fun like playing the movie in an incorrect geographical region, or running a copied disc. While they're starting out with DVD movies, it seems the proprietors of the tech are hoping to squeeze the chips into HD DVD, Blu-ray and any other medium in need of some copy protection. "This technology holds the potential to protect the intellectual property of music companies, film studios, gaming and software developers worldwide," sez Gordon Yeh, CEO of Ritek, whose U-Tech subsidiary is all prepped to start making the discs in Taiwan. Once all the manufacturing kinks are worked out, U-Tech will work with the studios for a test roll-out in Australia. Of course, to make any of this relevant, new DVD players will be required, but we're not clear if the discs will play as normal on non-RFID players. So, we're still short on deets, and there's no real word on when we can expect any of this to show up on Wal-Mart shelves, but that doesn't mean we can't start running around frantically and start decrying the end of our civilisation, for it is indeed at hand.

[WakkaWakka @ Sep 16th 2006 2:38PM]

Yet another attempt at defeating piracy which will fail miserably. Everyone's going to have to buy new players? Yeah, right, that'll work.

[Stoked x 10 @ Sep 16th 2006 2:41PM]

Yay, maybe they can accidentally infect them with viruses too, and my dvd player can get a virus, then I'll need a new one, and that one will probly have a chip to make sure I don't copy the DVD player itself and then it'll think I've tried and it'll spin the disk really fast and blow up and then I'll just go read a book.

[otakucode @ Sep 16th 2006 2:41PM]

Hmm, I could see this as being potentially effective, at least as far as preventing people from playing copies and such. I think a success in that arena would do a great deal of harm to the movie industry, but they don't seem to give a damn. If the data on the DVD is encrypted and the RFID chip contains a key which must be sent to a central server over the net before the player can get the decryption key, normal DVD players would just see a garbage disc, same with PC drives. Blocking the DVD player from accessing the net would result in the same situation.

Stopping encryption of DVDs entirely and doing day-and-date movie releasing would net them greater profit, but they seem to have closed their eyes to any such ideas.

[Shecky @ Sep 16th 2006 2:47PM]

If these DVDs et al. will require the purchase of a new DVD player to function, doesn't that effectively constitute a new format? So the movie & music cabal are forcing us to adopt ANOTHER medium, when HDDVD and Bluray aren't taking off as is?

Great idea, guys. I'm not buying another DVD player. Period.

Oh, and I love this quote:

U-Tech described this as the "real end game" for the chip-on-disc technology, which would "eliminate optical disc piracy in the entertainment and IT sectors".

Guess they should just give up now, if this is the "real end game", because it'll be cracked in a few months tops.

[- @ Sep 16th 2006 2:50PM]

"Stopping encryption of DVDs entirely and doing day-and-date movie releasing would net them greater profit, but they seem to have closed their eyes to any such ideas."

I totally agree otakucode. I would be willilng to pay a premium for a 24-hour movie as long as it was an actual new release and not something that has been at BlockBuster/NetFlix for 1-2 months anyway. But until that happens, I will continue to use ThePirateBay to get my new releases. :-)

[Dave @ Sep 16th 2006 2:58PM]

I guess I'll just be renting them, cracking them, and then watching them for free then. Too bad. I have quite an extensive library of (paid for) DVDs. I don't like RFID, though--so I guess I'll be giving myself a discount for future titles. I don't want to have to wrap my entire entertainment center in aluminum foil.

[Synergy @ Sep 16th 2006 3:00PM]

Easy way around this is to build a device that disables the on disc RFID and have a fake one near by to over ride the anti-piracy lock out. Or just hack the software on the machine. They are starting to include network updated machines.

[Reg @ Sep 16th 2006 3:00PM]

...better yet, just put an RFID and cameras in my home then eveyday my movements and actions can be uploaded to the Hollywood mothership to ensure I am not doing anything within my own civil rights. This way I could still use my same DVDs and player. I, for one, would welcome the new movie industry overlords into my home!

As for releasing new movies in cinemas for download, don't the movie industries only make a small percentage of the ticket price anyway? Or is that the cinemas themselves? Anyway, I think it would be more lucrative to do VOD, or something like that since your target audience would be wider. We don't want to get off our lazy duffs to drive down to the cinema. We want it in the comfort of our home. When will they realise that?!

[Dave @ Sep 16th 2006 3:06PM]

Personally, I'm not into VOD unless I can keep a harcopy. I don't need easy access to what would essentially be an in-home Blockbuster. That'd be an easy way to go broke quickly.

I'd rather have the physical movie to play at my leisure--but not if it means they all come with embedded RFID chips. I refuse to be subjected to this technology--and I won't pay for it.

[Stephen Marshall @ Sep 16th 2006 3:06PM]

Alright Guys, get to work on making a work-around

[LD @ Sep 16th 2006 3:09PM]

*yawn*

Yet another DRM that will be cracked and only hurts consumers, not pirates.

Imagine how cheap DVDs could be if studios simply saved all that money they wasted on worthless DRM schemes.

The whole idea of DRM such as this for the masses is a logical boondoggle. DRM has done nothing to prevent those who want to pirate and only made it more difficult for those who weren't ever going to pirate int he first place. So it hurts those who already pay the bills and does nothing to deter those who never intended on paying the bills.

Studios just can't seem to get that through their head. Mark Cuban is the man to look for to see how movies releases will be in the future. He's ahead of his time.

[Simon @ Sep 16th 2006 3:15PM]

"eliminate optical disc piracy" ... U-Tech, you don't realy belive that yourself, right?

But who can blame them to make the hollywood studios shove lots of money up their ass in the next vain attempt to fuck us in ours.

[John Doe. @ Sep 16th 2006 3:19PM]

Yah right. wait for the little box that you set beside your DVD player that emulates whatever RFID signal the disk gives off.

Dumbshits. If you can read it you can copy it. I really hope there is a special place in hell for these people.

[cobalt @ Sep 16th 2006 3:25PM]

This obviously won't work for DVD's. They might as well try to put RFID on LPs, audio tapes, CDs, and photocopy toner refills. Who is going to buy new hardware to take advantage of something whose main feature is DRM? Most people do not copy DVDs, and if there's no HDCP (meaning another piece of hardware with DRM), you can just grab the video feed. And if either BR and HD-DVD adopts another DRM "feature" at this point, the other one will probably edge ahead in the platform war. If both of them do, that will just make the whole situation even more absurd.

I have to admit that I read these things with mixed emotions. It's irritating to see things that don't work being foisted on both multimedia content and hardware corporations and consumers. On the other hand, it's hilarious to see such incredible incompetence and misunderstanding of something that represents simple human nature. If they want people to buy things, they should figure out what people will pay for what goods or services.

[Sean P. Aune @ Sep 16th 2006 3:26PM]

Reg -

"As for releasing new movies in cinemas for download, don't the movie industries only make a small percentage of the ticket price anyway? Or is that the cinemas themselves?"

On "A" releases (say Pirates 2), the theater makes 0% on the ticket, 100% goes to the studio for at least the first 6 weeks. Depending on the title, then 10 - 20% will go to the theater. Hence why concessions are so high and they ban "outside food and drink", that's their true revenue stream.

[Lyris @ Sep 16th 2006 3:26PM]

So, if I were to buy a DVD from America and try and play it here in the UK on my region coded it wouldn't work?

So I would then have to pirate the material instead. Yeah, great move, geniuses.

Not gonna happen either way... what a waste of everyone's time.

[kalmbach @ Sep 16th 2006 3:48PM]

The more difficult they make it for the average consumer, the more consumers are going for pirated movies and music. Just look at Sony! It's all downhill for those companies not willing to adapt.

[hornylion @ Sep 16th 2006 4:04PM]

People will always search to find a way for copying media. This label thing isn't much of an adult solution

[cobalt @ Sep 16th 2006 4:13PM]

Okay, I'm going to call it.
September 15, 2006 4:15 EST
This patient has expired.

[Whynot @ Sep 16th 2006 4:18PM]

Ah! The DVD player of the future...
"Press ON to start"....."please enter your password and bank account number"....."please put your finger on the fingerprint reader"....."reading fingerprint"....."analyzing blood sample"....."Welcome Mr Smith, please make sure you are the only viewer in this room. Our thermal sensors detect another human presence, please ask your family to kindly leave the room"....."please insert disc"......"reading RFID tag"......"connecting to the Warner database"....."your DVD has been identified as legal, please wait"......"connecting to the RIAA database"......"your DVD has been identified as legal but the random pirate generator identified you as a pirate, $6,500 will be taken from your bank account, and another $87,000 to help us face the daily $9 billion losses we face everyday - curse those pirates - please wait"....."connecting to the Micro$ft network"...."you have received the authorization for a one-time use of your DVD, in order to disable the DRMs, you have one second to enter the following code on your remote control: Xw4fRk809nC2Mw/&#f874n^cdR394ZpLliI24"...."sorry, the code you entered is not correct, your DVD will be destroyed along with the DVD player"...."your total for 1 identification, 1 RFID reading, 3 connections and 1 DRM keys comes to $62,000 +tax. This amount will be taken directly from your bank account"....."imminent auto-destruction, please stay away from the DVD player, injury or house-burning may occur. And remember, piracy is wrong"

lol

[Eli @ Sep 16th 2006 4:25PM]

Wait, so these DVD players won't play a disk that doesn't have an RFID chip? What about home movies on DVD? How will the player know the difference between my cousin's 8th birthday and a copy of, say, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift?

[Squee @ Sep 16th 2006 4:45PM]

@ Whynot
That has to be the funniest thing I've read in a long time! And i can see that happening too.

I remember people saying a few years back that copy protected cd's would stop piracy. It didn't clearly. I have a feeling that we will be looking back and saying "copy protected Blu ray and HD-DVD? Dont make me laugh" There will always be a work around, someone just has to find it.

[Raymond Wolfe @ Sep 16th 2006 4:49PM]

Subscribe to netflix.
Put the dvd in my pc.
Start dvdshrink.
Save output file to a separate folder for each movie. no need for RFID then.
250GB harddrive is what, $50 or $60 now? That holds about 50 dvds worth of movies. true, not HD-DVD or blu-ray, but still.

alternate way: rip dvd to ipod format and watch at work. no need for RFID.

yeah, this is gonna bomb BIG TIME.

[Phoenixfury @ Sep 16th 2006 5:16PM]

Doesn't RFID require a battery? In the short term, sure it might be effective. In the long term what happens when that RFID loses juice, wouldn't I need to buy a new copy of the movie again? I smell something evil going on here.

[duke hafa @ Sep 16th 2006 5:36PM]

dumbest idea ever. Wherever a new technology is being invented, it shall be considered hacked. I really dont think RFID is the key here, riaa, go back to your room, brainstorm again till you find something that works.

[alister @ Sep 16th 2006 5:43PM]

What about people that make their own personal DVD's of their home videos? The DVD player will be able to play these??? If so, how will the player be able to tell if my DVD is a personal DVD or a copy that I made.

[Edward @ Sep 16th 2006 6:00PM]

@ Reg
"I, for one, would welcome the new movie industry overlords into my home!"

damn! you beat me to it

[LukeA @ Sep 16th 2006 6:53PM]

If this comes on-line, I won't buy any movies legally.

[LD @ Sep 16th 2006 7:55PM]

Phoenixfury, no passive RFID like this doesn't require a battery. The radio in the reader stimulates the chip on the DVD providing the necessary power via radio waves. This is how most RFID works/will work in the retail world when/if it replaces UPC. Generally that's also how it works with shipping labels and such. Active RFID tags are left for big objects like pallets.

[Paco @ Sep 16th 2006 7:57PM]

We already use RFID tags for the driver CD's that go in the box with our products at work. It makes sure the right driver disc is in the box before it goes out. We also use then in the engineering lab to keep track of cd's. I'm not sure who makes then but the labels we apply to the disc, but they contain an rfid tag which we program with the info we want.

I like how they have dicided to do this after the recent news about how easy it is to copy rfid info.

[joe @ Sep 16th 2006 8:25PM]

mmmmm RFID security thats funny

[Dave @ Sep 16th 2006 8:35PM]

I guess it's time to start downloading my DVD's from the interweb...
I have a massive collection (about 600 discs) which I've collected from all over the world - I would never have been able to do this if this system were in place.
This is less about piracy and more about trying to protect their distribution markets.
Screw them and their movies

[Alex C @ Sep 16th 2006 8:53PM]

Suddenly the iTunes movie service and iTV seem very appealing. I don't like all this RFID nonsense. I don't like being tracked everywhere. It's ridiculous.

[Jordan @ Sep 16th 2006 9:04PM]

Anyone else notice that the GAP started sewing RFID's into their jeans? They can track you everywhere you go now, well when your wearing they're jeans anywho. I spotted this at the GAP at Yonge and Dundas in Toronto.

[Gazzonyx @ Sep 16th 2006 9:07PM]

Stupid : v., - Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting different results on each successive try.

MPAA, RIAA, etc. - "We have NEW piracy provention in XYZ technology that's so much better than ZYX technology of yesteryear! It only cost X million dollars to implement (for *us*), and we think it will recoup the losses from implementing ZYX technology."

This kind of logic would get you flunked for any descent university, and even some highschools. Stop it.

[Gazzonyx @ Sep 16th 2006 9:10PM]

EDIT: ...flunked *from* and descent university...

[DB @ Sep 16th 2006 9:25PM]

Anyone who does this loses my dollar.

What a bunch of losers.

[dp462090 @ Sep 16th 2006 9:35PM]

This will increase piracy, no doubt.

[atrain @ Sep 16th 2006 9:52PM]

in australia iirc it's legal to reprogram the dvd firmware/or chip to play out of region disks, most retailers will give you the code with your hardware purchase.

apart from the size of our market being a mocrocosm of the us in style* surely this would invalidate the rfid idea?

i can't imaginge people are going to want to have dvd players that phone home all the time.

*apart from legal tv/dvd downloads where we lag shamefully behind

[Wayne @ Sep 16th 2006 10:48PM]

RFID can't track your movements or the location of objects in your house. It's a comman misconception that anything tagged with an RFID chip allows the manufacturer to see where you live and how you use the item.

Without a radio sensor, an RFID chip is useless. What an RFID chip will do is notify security at Wal-Mart that 20 packs of Gillette razors have just been removed from the shelf if the shelf has a radio sensor. Or it will notify security that a case of razor blades just left the warehouse.

As soon as you walk out of the store the RFID tag is useless to the end consumer.

[tekdroid @ Sep 17th 2006 12:28AM]

one just looks at this move and LOLs. Keep supporting the industry that foists this on you, people. After all, that new DVD is more important than your basic rights and laws being trampled on by corporates. Oh, and do support Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, too. After all, everyone knows there's no way in hell we can get high-def, now or in the future, without these two highly restrictive optical formats. LOL.

The Truly Clueless Suits (TCSs) know nothing about the upcoming revolt. I just hope they're prepared to scrap their plans.

[omega pirate @ Sep 17th 2006 1:45AM]

Just avoid the new players, simple as that. but for new formats i.e. HD-DVD or Blu-Ray there will be a work around the day its released no doubt. And if there isn't then I guess I won't be buying any DVD's. I think they may have forgotten that as a consumer I have the final say.

[Adam @ Sep 17th 2006 1:48AM]

RFID... wait i know... Really Fucked-up Individual Disks!
That is the "future" of dvd's, please. Im tired of the big time studios dick-tating what i can and cant do with MY money and MY time. If i wanted them to decide that for me, i would invite them over for a game of parchessi while i sell my soul to them (read=the devil) and die. Thank You have a nice FUCK YOU!!!!!

[empty spaces inc @ Sep 17th 2006 2:32AM]

people are moving to using a media center pc instead of a dvd player. they won't be affected by this stupid move and it'll become more popular - stand-alone-dvd-player manufacturers will suffer and stop this nonsense.

[dp462090 @ Sep 17th 2006 3:29AM]

This will increase piracy, no doubt.

[Robobagins @ Sep 17th 2006 5:11AM]

Even if this does find it's way to market, some company is going release a player that bypasses it like the regionless players a couple of years back.

[russ @ Sep 17th 2006 8:03AM]

my prediction: this will never to come to fruition..

[smoothy @ Sep 17th 2006 9:21AM]

Wkay if the magnet gets hit with a powerful magnet? I mean would this just make it into a cup holder?

[John @ Sep 17th 2006 10:04AM]

MAKE DVD'D BLU-RAY, HD-DVD,Etc.. CHEAPER!!!!! JESUS! 10 bucks or less would just stop people from coping....I mean think about it. You friend buys a movie and you enjoyed it. Its more so a hassle to copy and takes some time. SO you would rather buy it. So case in point. If its cheap people will buy! Stop milken this copy protecting bull crap and sell cheap!
Stupid Mother F'ers!

[Jeff @ Sep 17th 2006 12:46PM]

word, john.

crap like this and the artificially high prices of DVDs only encourage piracy.

...but you know how greed is. dont expect it to stop.