SunnComm’s latest
p2pnet.net News:- This should be interesting: SunnComm says it’s achieved a “breakthrough” in DVD Protection.
The company’s most recent success involved the protection of the BMG Velvet Revolver Contraband album “against unauthorized duplication”. Even before the words were out, however, Contraband was contraband online, echoing a similar situation when SunnComm and BMG said they’d cracked the copying problem with respect to Anthony Hamilton’s Comin’ From Where I’m From.
It, too, turned up on the p2p networks while S&B were telling the ever-faithful mainstream media that the album was copy protected.
Now, “SunnComm International, Inc., the #1 provider in North America of copy management and enhancement technology announced today that it has completed its ‘proof of concept’ in the development of its anticipated DVD copy inhibiting technology,” it states in a puff piece.
Says Eric Vandewater, SunnComm’s chief technology officer, “We expect to begin the internal beta testing of our DVD copy management technology as early as next quarter (Q3/04), and we expect to deliver MediaMaxDVD technology to a leading major motion picture distributor for testing in the ‘real’ world later this year.”
But you’ll have to wait until the completion of Phase I of the patent application process “intended to secure the intellectual property rights related to these unique additional features” before you’ll find out what they are.
However, “These enhancements have been designed to create greater entertainment value for the consumer while boosting incremental sales and contributing to higher price points on catalog DVD releases.”
Apparently, this’ll include features and enhancements “never before found on a commercial DVD”.
But this time, SunnComm is covering its gluetous maximus. It says security components are designed to “inhibit casual copying”.
‘Inhibit” doesn’t mean ‘Stop’. It means ’suppress’.
So when SunnComm’s MediaMaxDVDs show up online, again, the company will be able to utilize maximum deniability. It’ll also no doubt want to charge a little extra to compensate for all the hard work.
June 30th, 2004 at 1:03 pm
It seems to me that the CSS protection already on DVDs “inhibits” casual copying. I can’t just stick a DVD in a drive, and drag the filestructure into a recording program.
It seems to me that SunmComm is lauging all the way to the bank. SunnComm is selling the equivalent of a sign that says “Do Not Open,” and then telling the sign purchaser that it inhibits all entry into the high-security area it “protects.”
As for the “extra features never before found on a DVD, blah, blah” what are those going to be? Buy a DVD, you get the movie, sometimes some commentary and trailers. What else is there? Coupons good for free beer?
DVDs are a decent (not great) buy right now. That’s why they are so popular. My thoughts are if you start beating your customers over the head with a hammer in the name of security, you’re going to lose a lot of them. I know I don’t buy CDs anymore. I don’t download them either, the music industries’ product is not something I want anything to do with anymore. DVDs will soon be the same way.
June 30th, 2004 at 3:58 pm
Right on but people read *Do Not Open* as *DO Open*