Preventing movie piracy with DRM

By: Alice Pierce
Submitted: 2008-08-28 16:10:15
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Movies have always been the object of piracy. In the past when digital technology was yet to make its appearance, unscrupulous traders used to secretly photograph the entire movie in the theater halls.  Subsequently these were reproduced in shape of video cassettes or tapes or even CDs.  The quality of these copied products was not comparable to the original and on many occasions they did not find such favor with the viewers who preferred the original movie or the authenticated copies. Many of the copied products were abridged too and people did not like such shorter versions.

Change of scenario with advent of digital technology –

The scenario changed drastically with the advent of digital technology. While in the past the main constraint in copying and piracy was the quality that was never up to the mark, to day the quality of copied items are no way inferior to the original.  In result new avenues have now opened up for those who are making these copies and indulging into unscrupulous activities.

In result it has now become imperative for you to prevent the copying by protecting your web contents and ensuring document security.  This can only be possible with digital rights management software put in place. One of the earliest DRM systems was the Content Scrambling System or CSS that came into being in the year 1996. It used to restrict the inclusion features in the contents so that high quality digital copies can not be taken.  Initially this software worked on windows software but later they came into play with Linux.

New inventions in the field of DRM

A new DRM system has been put in place by the Microsoft Company in its Windows Vista. The software is named Protected Media Path.  It contains PVP or Protected Video Path that stops the restricted contents from being displayed.  It also has the capability to encrypt information during transmission monitoring the graphics and preventing unauthorized recordings.

Subsequently the developers came up with the “Advanced Access Content System” or AACS that was implemented by HD DVD as well as Blue Ray.  A process key was also published by Crackers and finally the broadcast flag came up in the year 2001.  This was supported by both the MPAA and FCC.

The DRM concept received some set back when the US court ruled that such restrictions cannot be imposed on the TV industry.  However the process of preventing unauthorized copying again took up when a consortium of broadcasters, manufacturers and also the network operators across 35 countries attempted the evolution of new digital standards for TV and Internet.

DRM future

The latest and updated variant of the system came up with the Content Protection software for digital rights management in the year 2007.  Like other DRM the intention here was also to control the uses of any of the copyrighted materials by the end users.  The best part of the new technology was that it harmonized the use of technologies across all the available platforms resulting in successful prevention of unauthorized access to the data and information by intruders.

Article source: Expert Articles