Another "Play Once" DVD scheme
10-02-05 | 09:59 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Special Edition
Another "Play Once" DVD scheme
When will they learn that there is not a big enough market for this type of product.
How many have tried now?
Microsoft invents a ‘one-play only’ DVD to combat Hollywood piracy
COMPUTER software giant Microsoft has developed a cheap, disposable pre-recorded DVD disc that consumers can play only once. The discs would give Hollywood increased control over the release of new films and allow consumers the chance to watch a film at the fraction of the price of an ordinary pre-recorded DVD. More important, the discs would prevent copying and digital piracy, which is costing the film and music industry billions in lost revenues.
The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them. Microsoft hopes it will help the company dominate home entertainment as it dominates the desktop computer market.
The film industry has been growing increasingly alarmed at the prospect of film fans using the internet to download pirated films, just as music fans download copyrighted songs on their personal computers. Researchers at Microsoft believe they have a simple solution to the challenge of piracy. Hollywood’s movie moguls are said to be excited at the prospect of having a piracy-proof means of distribution.
Buying an ordinary DVD of a new film costs between £15 (E22, $26.40) and £20. Microsoft’s new disc will enable the studios to release a “play-once, then throw away” copy for as little as £3, much the same as renting a video or DVD. But unlike a rented DVD, the new disc allows consumers to decide when they watch films and there is no need to return it.
The new generation of DVD disc will spearhead a fresh assault by Microsoft on the home-entertainment market. A big chunk of its $7bn research budget is spent on digital rights management (DRM). A senior source in the company says Microsoft is in talks with the main electronics manufacturers about developing DVD players to play the new discs. And when the movie industry does find the courage to move to a fully internet-based distribution model, Microsoft wants its DRM software to be the industry standard, giving it dominance of the server market, and the telecoms and cable companies that need to store and manage their video-on-demand services.
Chairman Bill Gates has been working on a solution to the film industry’s piracy problem since making a now legendary pitch to the industry in September 2002. Showing a video of himself dressed in a sailor suit pretending to audition for the blockbuster Titanic, Gates pitched Hollywood with the proposition that only Microsoft could solve its piracy problem by making its DRM software a standard across every home entertainment playback and recording device. By installing its DRM software in every device used to play or store movies, Microsoft plans to dominate the home entertainment industry in the same way it does the desktop computer software market.
This will mean convincing competitors such as Sony – whose Playstation rivals Gates’s XBox – that allowing Microsoft dominance of the home entertainment software market is a price worth paying to establish a single global DRM standard. But despite the telecoms and cable companies’ plans to offer video-on-demand through the internet, the most popular internet-based movie service in the US is still a company called Netflix, which posts DVDs to users’ homes. The customers only use the internet to make a selection from Netflix’s store of 42m DVD discs and place an order online.
Netflix has more than 4m subscribers, but its founder and head, Reed Hastings, last week told Newsweek it will have more than 20m subscribers by 2010 and that DVD discs will not be entirely replaced by newer digital technologies for at least another 20 years.
How many have tried now?
Microsoft invents a ‘one-play only’ DVD to combat Hollywood piracy
COMPUTER software giant Microsoft has developed a cheap, disposable pre-recorded DVD disc that consumers can play only once. The discs would give Hollywood increased control over the release of new films and allow consumers the chance to watch a film at the fraction of the price of an ordinary pre-recorded DVD. More important, the discs would prevent copying and digital piracy, which is costing the film and music industry billions in lost revenues.
The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them. Microsoft hopes it will help the company dominate home entertainment as it dominates the desktop computer market.
The film industry has been growing increasingly alarmed at the prospect of film fans using the internet to download pirated films, just as music fans download copyrighted songs on their personal computers. Researchers at Microsoft believe they have a simple solution to the challenge of piracy. Hollywood’s movie moguls are said to be excited at the prospect of having a piracy-proof means of distribution.
Buying an ordinary DVD of a new film costs between £15 (E22, $26.40) and £20. Microsoft’s new disc will enable the studios to release a “play-once, then throw away” copy for as little as £3, much the same as renting a video or DVD. But unlike a rented DVD, the new disc allows consumers to decide when they watch films and there is no need to return it.
The new generation of DVD disc will spearhead a fresh assault by Microsoft on the home-entertainment market. A big chunk of its $7bn research budget is spent on digital rights management (DRM). A senior source in the company says Microsoft is in talks with the main electronics manufacturers about developing DVD players to play the new discs. And when the movie industry does find the courage to move to a fully internet-based distribution model, Microsoft wants its DRM software to be the industry standard, giving it dominance of the server market, and the telecoms and cable companies that need to store and manage their video-on-demand services.
Chairman Bill Gates has been working on a solution to the film industry’s piracy problem since making a now legendary pitch to the industry in September 2002. Showing a video of himself dressed in a sailor suit pretending to audition for the blockbuster Titanic, Gates pitched Hollywood with the proposition that only Microsoft could solve its piracy problem by making its DRM software a standard across every home entertainment playback and recording device. By installing its DRM software in every device used to play or store movies, Microsoft plans to dominate the home entertainment industry in the same way it does the desktop computer software market.
This will mean convincing competitors such as Sony – whose Playstation rivals Gates’s XBox – that allowing Microsoft dominance of the home entertainment software market is a price worth paying to establish a single global DRM standard. But despite the telecoms and cable companies’ plans to offer video-on-demand through the internet, the most popular internet-based movie service in the US is still a company called Netflix, which posts DVDs to users’ homes. The customers only use the internet to make a selection from Netflix’s store of 42m DVD discs and place an order online.
Netflix has more than 4m subscribers, but its founder and head, Reed Hastings, last week told Newsweek it will have more than 20m subscribers by 2010 and that DVD discs will not be entirely replaced by newer digital technologies for at least another 20 years.
10-02-05 | 10:43 PM
#3
DVD Talk Hero
The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them.
10-02-05 | 10:45 PM
#4
DVD Talk Legend
What really makes this an unusual story: it's rare to see such a stupid idea embraced by such a smart man.
This is even worse that the most recent effort, since those disposables were at least playable on regular DVD players. But when I read ...
"The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them."
.... the large neon WARNING - FAILURE AHEAD sign started blinking.
This is even worse that the most recent effort, since those disposables were at least playable on regular DVD players. But when I read ...
"The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them."
.... the large neon WARNING - FAILURE AHEAD sign started blinking.
Last edited by marty888; 10-02-05 at 10:47 PM.
10-02-05 | 11:10 PM
#6
DVD Talk Hero
"Microsoft hopes it will help the company dominate home entertainment..."
10-03-05 | 04:59 PM
#7
DVD Talk Gold Edition
And since we're all quoting the funny parts, let's not forget this one...
WTF? I love the mental image of this!
Showing a video of himself dressed in a sailor suit pretending to audition for the blockbuster Titanic, Gates pitched Hollywood with the proposition
10-03-05 | 06:53 PM
#9
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Piracy isn't what's costing the movie and recording industries billions.
It's payoffs to special interest obligated legislators to keep increasing the length of copyrights, and the wasted capital investments they keep making in these insane schemes to get us to pay for each time we want to view or hear something.
Clueless and short-sighted.
It's payoffs to special interest obligated legislators to keep increasing the length of copyrights, and the wasted capital investments they keep making in these insane schemes to get us to pay for each time we want to view or hear something.
Clueless and short-sighted.
