As you may or may not know I work for a local retailer of satellite and high speed internet services here in Boise. As such I get cool information on all the happenings with DISH Network, DIRECTV, etc. Anyway, while reading through some of the latest material from DISH Network I stumbled across the fact that DISH Network is implementing HDCP on all their DVR products. According to the FAQ about it from DISH:
Why did this happen?
As you may know, piracy has become a global issue in the movie industry. In an effort to improve the security of movies on DISH Network, we have recently added some copy protection to HBO and Cinemax services.
The idea of the copy protection scheme is that you can only have 1 copy of any protected show. That 1 copy can be “moved” to a HDCP compatible device, but not copied. So you can “move” an HBO recording to your PocketDISH, but it will delete the show off your DVR. Or if you have an HDCP compatible DVD burner, you should be able to “move” the show to DVD, but, again, it will be deleted off the DVR. Seems to work, however there are 2 issues that I can see:
1) Content moved to the PocketDISH can not be moved back to the DVR. So if you want to watch it on your pretty HDTV, better break out your PocketDISH’s AV cable, which is composite, and hook it up. Quality goes down. Yay!
2) Once it’s on the PocketDISH, you can connect those same AV cables to anything you want, including, *gasp* a DVD Recorder or, if you really want to go old school, VCR!
Oh-noes!
All of the sudden my 1 copy on the DVR has become however many copies I want it to be. Or, even more unthinkable, connect it to a Composite-to-Stereo plug convertor for audio, and a TV Tuner card that accepts a line in, and record it that way. Who cares!
Okay, any recordings like that will not be of the same quality as the original, but still watchable for most people. Also, it just goes to show that the system is broken. The PocketDISH is just one example of that. Burn it to DVD and then rip the DVD. There is no such thing as only 1 copy..
Enough of this MPAA and all you other peoples out there. Stop making my life more difficult, as you aren’t stopping the pirates! You’re just pissing me off!
Labels: Computers
¶ 5:31 PM
Instead of implementing copy protection, the companies should have a close look at the market and act accordingly. There are several bands out there that release their music *for free* over the internet, and then they make money thanks to the fans going to their concerts, and buying the albums because they like the music.
The same goes for TV shows. People that like the shows/movies are most probably gonna go and buy the DVD. I own several of my favorite shows on DVD and I intend to purchase more of them. Then, ofc there is the issue with networks killing all the good shows (f.ex. Blade and Dead Like Me) which tends to piss people off quite a bit as well.
Ofc, that doesn’t work if there is nothing to like about the music. You can’t use copy protection to force someone to listen to your music, for example Elton John who recently stated that he wants to shut down the internet to prevent privacy
Posted By: Noccy
Posted By: Carl Bittel
So screw em... I wont rent their movies.. fi they wish to let the Movie indistry dictate who can and cannot rent PPV neither HD nor standard work for me and they just do not give a heck.. then fine.. I instead of renting them in house for upwards of $6 ea I can rent them for $2.25 all day just down the street... Good luck with HDCP Dishnetwork.. Let me know how that works out for you...
One LONG TIME CUSTOMER that gets tired of getting screwed.. So screw you dish....
The Gov tdeciding on letting someone (the Movie industry) control your bottom line... NICE>..
: December 4, 2009 at 10:30 AM
