HD DVD: no region codes and relaxed copy protection systems

A recent article on Japanese technology site Impress revealed that HD DVD would make region codes obsolete, and that plans were underway to implement new, more flexible copy protection schemes.

The HD DVD Steering Committee has noted the unpopularity of region locking in current generation DVDs, and has therefore decided to abolish region codes for the new HD DVD format. They are also considering ways of relaxing strict copyright laws to allow consumers easier access to HD DVD content.

Currently, over 300 new DVD titles hit the stores every month, and retailers tend to stock only those which are guaranteed to sell, meaning that lesser-known titles are harder for consumers to track down.

The Steering Committee is considering an alternate mode of content delivery which may also allow for relaxed copying legislation while still retaining a high level of security.

The new model would see consumers download content from a central server. When a consumer pays for the content, they can elect to buy “copying rights” to make a limited number of copies of the content.

To copy the disc, the consumer would have to access the server, which would then provide the consumer with a license code allowing them to copy the content to their home server. The Steering Committee has rejected the current notion that copying DVD content should be totally prohibited.

In order to combat piracy, the Steering Committee is planning to introduce a watermarking system which will prevent would-be pirates from playing back the material they have pirated by recording movies in cinemas.

Whilst recording, a watermark denoting theater sound will be inserted into the material, and playback will be stopped automatically upon detection of the watermark.

Source: http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20051006/dvdf.htm (Japanese)