With the new Content Scramble System approved by the DVD Copy Control Association

Sep 21, 2007 06:19 GMT  ·  By

Although classical movie retail and renting methods are still pretty strong, the increasingly higher use of Internet around the world has opened the way for a whole new business domain, namely that of movie download platforms and services. And in order to make things easier and safer for the users, the Board of Directors of the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) gave final approval for the innovative use of the CSS technology, which will allow commercial vendors and individual consumers to legally create CSS copy-protected DVDs for playback on existing DVD players.

According to the organization, with this new application of the Content Scramble System (CSS), vendors could, for example, create protected DVDs in custom runs at new on-demand factories or on store-based kiosks. Moreover, individual consumers will also be able to legally record a variety of content at home, including select movies, as offered by the content owners. In addition, consumers could obtain unusual, historical, or special content that is now unavailable on DVD because existing demand does not economically allow the mass reproduction today's market requires.

Nevertheless, users won't be able to burn the downloaded content directly onto normal DVDs. They'll have to use special blank DVD discs with CSS encryption, but, nevertheless, the discs will be (or should be) compatible with almost all of the DVD players in homes and businesses today.

As some of you might know, the Content Scramble System (CSS) is the protection system that has enabled the content owners to provide consumers access to high quality DVD movies, television programs and other entertainment for home viewing on their video systems and computers. CSS is made available to allow product manufacturers to offer exciting products for consumers to use to enjoy entertainment on DVD while also protecting the content from unauthorized duplication, protecting from infringement the intellectual property contributed by the many writers, directors, actors and producers who create such works.

"This important change is in direct response to industry and consumer demand for new legal alternatives for the creation and digital distribution of secure DVD content," said Chris Cookson, Chairman of the DVD CCA Board. "Now that the process needed to enable this exciting capability is complete, we anticipate that new products and services will quickly appear in the marketplace."

This new development could represent quite an important blow to the next-generation formats, but it remains to be seen whether this will actually happen, especially since the broadband Internet adoption level is still far from worldwide level.

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