Yesterday, Macrovision announced the release of RipGuard, an anti-DVD ripping software that “plugs the hole” left by the DeCSS crack.
The hole Macrovision refers to allows ripping software to perform the function it was designed for. RipGuard claims to prevent 97% of said software from being able to rip DVDs. Macrovision feels they are doing a service by developing their “hole-plugger”, going as far as to release monetary figures to back up the need for RipGuard.
“DVD piracy costs studios close to $4 billion each year, approaching $5 billion by the end of the decade.”
RipGuard also purports to close analog and digital holes left by the DeCSS crack. According to Macrovision, the analog hole allows owners to make non-digital copies of privately owned DVDs using analog outputs on the actual player.
Closing this hole is important because we all know how making a back-up copy of a DVD you actually own can be damaging to the movie industry.
The digital hole RipGuard wants to plug allows “millions of average consumers to make unauthorized perfect digital copies of copyrighted DVDs in mere minutes.” Because you can actually rip the content off the discs using this method, many are uploading the DVD files to P2P networks and distributing unauthorized bootleg copies.
With this in mind, the need/desire to close the “digital hole” is an understandable one. However, not allowing customers to make copies of a medium they actually own may not be the answer…
Of course, as with the watermark technology developed for music CDs, it’s only a matter of time before an exploit is found in RipGuard. To think the hackers and code geeks won’t accept this challenge head-on is foolish.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
