You are a criminal redux

Tav's commented on the Disney claim that pirated movies are poorer quality blah blah, which of course is nonsense if they've been taken from a master source. That presupposes that the DVD has already been released, for movies still been broadcast in cinemas the only option is the camcorder one, or stealing the film and having access to a high speed digital film scanner.

But what about digital cinemas? If the cinema has the movie in a digital format surely that means it's easier to copy? Well there's a ton of security restrictions in place some of which I believe could have been handled better.

So let's take a look at the digital revolution. How does it all work? Well the cinema gets the film in pretty much the same way, it's encrypted and requires a unique KDM (Key Delivery Message) to broadcast one KDM per server. To prevent copying the broadcast system adds in an invisible watermark detailing time date and location to the film. Sit in the cinema with a camcorder and film the movie and the distributor will know exactly when and where you did it. The broadcast won't happen if the watermark software is tampered with or any of the other security system. The broadcast also won't happen if it's outside the time restriction of the KDM.

So sounds reasonable. How would I have done it? Well first off we don't need the KDM at all. The broadcaster contacts the distributor and requests a movie for his servers. The servers public keys are kept by the distributor and they 'burn' and label the movies for each server with that encryption. Now only that server can play that movie.

What about time limits etc.? Well for starters why have a time limit at all? Well we need a start date, can't have movies being shown before their release. So the servers are hooked up to via the internet to the distributors server. The broadcaster sets the film to play and the server sends a short and simple encrypted request to the distributor "Broadcaster X wants to show Movie Y. Allow?" A no (or no answer) comes back, it doesn't show. For that level of interaction you wouldn't even need DSL speeds. Better yet the distributor now knows how many times that movie is being shown. Why good, well instead of a flat fee the distributor can now charge per screening. This could encourage cinemas to pick up obscure niche titles for screening. You get them sent, play them once, and return the cassette for something new without having to drop a bundle on getting it in the first place.

If we get a decent fibre system in place this could all happen without the need for any physical media at all. The distributors simply sit on a big server holding their catalogue and the system takes and processes all requests automatically.

Ah but what about hackers. Well the movies will be encrypted and there's nothing stopping the distributors from adding in their own watermark to the movie. Even if the hackers get hold of the private key of a broadcaster and decrypt the movie the watermark will still be there. the pirate hits the streets, the watermark is read, and that server has its keys altered. The hackers have to start from scratch.

Of course all this security assumes that we want to get rid of pirate versions of movies. Well of course we do, the studios are forever telling us that the high costs are solely to make up for the pirates cut in their take. Except look closer. Would we have simultaneous world-wide releases of movies and DVDs if it weren't for the pirates. Would studios bother to try and make each region-coded release as identical as possible if it weren't for the pirates. Does anyone believe that if this security system eliminated pirates altogether all the prices would suddenly fall?

No I don't think so. Ironically it's the pirates that are forcing the studios and the distributors to do this. Forcing them to innovate, to treat the world as a single entity rather then as discreet region bands. While the system is still tilted in favour of the studios we need the pirates.