RipGuard technology to protect DVDs from being copied

DVDs will be harder to copy thanks to new &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/18/28939_.html' target=_blank>anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm Macrovision.

The pirated DVD market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago.

Macrovision says its new RipGuard technology will thwart most, but not all, of the current DVD ripping (copying) programs used to pirate DVDs, says BBC News.

According to the eWeek, "RipGuard DVD," will be licensed to the company's partners—studios who are part of the Motion Picture Association of America, executives told ExtremeTech. RipGuard isn't foolproof, but the hope is that it will cut down on mainstream ripping, they said. The &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/economics/2001/10/01/16723.html' target=_blank>software will simply block rippers from working.

Macrovision's technology evolved from its early work with VCRs, and the technology embedded into videocassettes that prevented them from being copied. The problem has become much more challenging in a world where content is stored on DVD and accessed through powerful personal computers that can edit video, aided by the Internet, which can disseminate tools and help to create collaborative solutions.

Macrovision Corp. said its RipGuard system, which can be included in &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/14542_virus.html' target=_blank>personal computers, DVD players and DVD recorders, would plug the digital hole through which unauthorized versions of DVD films can be easily copied on a computer and then "burned" to other discs or put online for downloading.

The company is just the first of several firms expected to rollout new anti-piracy technology that has been years in the making, according to a Los Angeles Times report carried by its online version.