Ghostbusters Is First Film Released On USB Key 448
arcticstoat writes "Are you the USB keymaster? You could be soon if you pick up PNY's new 2GB USB flashdrive, which comes pre-loaded with Ghostbusters. A spokesperson for PNY explained that it comes with a form of DRM that prevents you from copying the movie. 'They have DRM protection,' explained the spokesperson, 'so customers can download the movie onto their laptop or PC if they wish, but they have to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie, as the DRM is locked in the USB drive.' The music industry has been playing around with USB flash drives for a few years now, but it hasn't been a massive success yet; will USB movies fare any better?"
terrible idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Insightful)
and let me guess, requires windows visa with the latest service pack (DRM++)
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Informative)
Well apparently it works on Linux as well (As long as it has the right KERNAL)
From Argos.co.uk.
2GB storage.
Plug and play.
Compatible with Windows ME, 2008, XP, Mac OS, 8.6 and Higher, Linux, Kernal 2.4X and any operating system with a USB port.
Compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0.
Size (H)2 (W)6.3 (D) 0.8cm.
Black USB pendrive.
Full length movie and link to argos website included.
Full installation guide included.
Although I guess that is wrong for the DRM stuff.
Tom...
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Insightful)
That can be easily fixed.
Get a 4 gig usb key instead, a DVD of ghostbusters and a copy of handbrake. (you will want to rip with settings that give you about 3.2gig because the film was created on very low grade film it cant be compressed hard without artifacts.)
rip the dvd to a OPEN unencumbered codec. place on USB key.
Voila. same thing in BETTER quality without the DRM and is compatible with most computers.
hey hollywood, until you offer me something that is NOT DRM encumbered I aint' buyin' it! I'll violate your copyright instead...
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Informative)
I thought that you were allowed by fair use to make copies for your personal use. You aren't violating copyright, since you purchased a DVD of Ghostbusters. The DMCA is another matter, though...
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You still haven't explained how it can take only six seconds for you to "put the disc in the media center I built" and then "walk by and grab the disc off the tray and put it in my library".
Unless you also built a stasis booth into your living room there's going to be a little bit more time in between those two events.
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I think Lumpy is talking about how much time it takes him. How much unattended work is done by the computer while he's off doing his laundry or whatever is another question.
Re:terrible idea (Score:4, Funny)
Re:terrible idea (Score:4, Funny)
No, I think that people have other things to do. Like actually leave the house, use the computer for other things besides encoding media, or even (gasp!) turning the thing off.
And all of those take place in real time that isn't measured in imaginary numbers.
Uh huh. And time SPENT by me to receive a PhD in nuclear physics is really less than a minute, since all I have to do was accept a piece of paper and shake some old guy's hand, right?
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Funny)
Duh! 500% _of_a_CPU_ on an 8-CPU machine...
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Not really. Bypassing digital rights management is prohibited _except_ as provided for fair use (and a select few other uses). What's prohibited is for anyone else to help you in any way to crack the DRM yourself. So you don't lose your rights to fair use, they just prevent nearly everyone from exercising their rights by making the hurdle to use nearly insurmountable (personally cracking the system and coding the decryption software from scratch). The good thing is that it's not illegal to use someone el
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Bypassing digital rights management is prohibited _except_ as provided for fair use (and a select few other uses).
If only that were true. Although the text of the DMCA [eff.org] mentions fair use, it doesn't really offer any protection for people who violate "technological protection" of the media in order to exercise those rights. Just look at http://chillingeffects.org/ [chillingeffects.org] for examples. The only real protection for people who have legitimate needs to get around DRM come in the form of exemptions which are reexamined and granted every 3 years. Here is the latest set of DMCA exemptions [eff.org]. The EFF specifically notes that no provi
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And if enough people do this, we will ensure that no content provider ever dares to give us free movies in promotions! They'll just stick to selling them, and we can then pay for the movies instead. Yay progress!
DRM, in this case, is a choice between DRM'd content and no content at all. I'd rather have DRM'd content than none.
We all make our choices. (Score:4, Interesting)
DRM, in this case, is a choice between DRM'd content and no content at all. I'd rather have DRM'd content than none.
I, on the other hand, would rather do with none than with DRM.
I made that choice when the DVDs supplanted videotape and didn't buy DVD movies - or buy or rent any movies at all - until after CSS was cracked and the movie industry gave up on their attempts to stuff that genie back into the bottle. No blu-ray players for me, either. Stopped buying CDs, too, when they started experimenting with the early computer-speaker-blowing "copy protection" that corrupted the data and depended on the error correction on players to recover the music (and thus corrupted it when you got real errors from a dirty disk) and never really got back into purchasing new music after that.
Never actually MADE a backup copy. And never downloaded a "pirated" song or movie, either. I just don't buy encumbered stuff.
Instead I found other ways to amuse myself. (For instance: The amazing number and variety of animals outside the place on the high desert put on a continuous show that's quite entertaining - especially when I flush the well and create a puddle that draws them in from miles around. And there's lots of amusement on the net that is not "pirated" copyrighted content.)
Interestingly, I don't really miss the corporate "content". Either the quality took a nosedive around that time or the product stopped matching my (quite broad) tastes. (Though from what I hear of some local bands it's more the former than the latter.)
We all make our choices.
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Even worse are the "extras" they throw in that get in your way. I want my DVD's to play the movie (and ONLY the movie) on insertion. That means ripping them and discarding the original DVD's. I also want to store DVD's in a binder, so my movie collection isn't a dominant fixture in the room. That means discarding the original cases. Notice how all the materials I paid for end up in the garbage 30 minutes after getting it home?
And don't get me started on Blu-Ray. Unskippable commercials?!! I would rat
Amazon's MP3 store owns. (Score:4, Informative)
VBR lame-encoded MP3s, with not a speck of DRM! Effective by design!!! And if you drink Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and other Pepsi products (although paradoxically not Mountain Dew, dammit) you can get FREE tunes. I've had iTunes for years and never bought anything. However, I've bought from Amazon.
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The problem is that Hollywood isn't going to listen to you. They think that movie files can be DRM'd the same way as physical disks can and so they demand it.
The problem is they are pissing in their own pool. The digital download scene is a wasteland of proprietary DRM schemes, proprietary players, proprietary devices attached to proprietary services. The result is consumers ar
Re:Just because you can do it... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:terrible idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Insightful)
I would rather use the device and medium of my choosing without dongles.
Re:terrible idea (Score:4, Funny)
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Funny)
What would you do if your girlfriend came up to you with that preference?
Ask to watch.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:terrible idea (Score:5, Funny)
But would you publish it without DRM?
Re:terrible idea (Score:4, Funny)
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Sounds just as easy if not easier than dealing with an optical disc in some kind of a case. Easier to store, easier to carry. Doesn't help if you prefer something that's just a file stored on your hard drive, but it does have portability going for it.
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USB keys are definitely a terrible idea, especially if you're required to have the USB key plugged in to watch the movie. The DRM is going to kill this idea pretty damn quickly; I know I certainly won't be buying. Also, 2GB is barely enough capacity to distribute a film with a reasonable bit-rate and resolution. It's less than DVD and even with h.264 instead of MPEG2, it's not going to be as good.
I've thought for a while that selling DRM-free movies on 32GB SD cards would be a better solution than Blu-ray
countdown (Score:5, Insightful)
Waiting to hear news that the movie's been unlocked in 3... 2... 1...
Re:countdown (Score:5, Funny)
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Or... oh wait, Ghostbusters?
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Step 1. Lock down media tight with cumbersome steps that are obnoxious to all.
Step 2. Don't make a product anybody wants in the first place.
It's brilliant. I bet piracy goes down 5000% with this new scheme. I wish I had thought of this. Let's also release 3 hour clips of a jar of mayonaise, locked down with DRM. I betcha nobody will crack it.
Re:countdown (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed. There is no chance this DRM will work. My question is what are they afraid of? Ghostbusters has been on the pirate bay since at least 2005. I'm sure it was on Limewire and Kazaa before that. If they are testing to see if this DRM will work, they already know the answer. It works OK for the non-technical folk, and has no chance in hell for the people who would actually want to buy a movie on USB stick (if it didn't have DRM, at least). This just seems like one of the most useless ideas Hollywood has had.
Re:countdown (Score:5, Funny)
This just seems like one of the most useless ideas Hollywood has had.
Hollywood made "Battlefield: Earth." This isn't even in the top ten, sorry buddy.
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Uwe Boll's movies are filmed in Canada and funded primarily by European investors. The Clone Wars was self-funded and created in-house by Lucasfilm, which is not Hollywood-based. Not all movies are made by Hollywood.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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They're more interested in proving the principle of the thing than protecting this particular film. If it gets ripped, Hollywood isn't going to be as upset as they would be if, say, Quantum of Solace were ripped.
Yes, I mentioned that as a possibility above, but I also said that Hollywood already knows the answer.
If it doesn't get ripped...
And that isn't the answer.
Re:countdown (Score:5, Funny)
OK, so NO ONE crack it or rip it until it becomes standard.
Shhh, keep this on the down low.
Re:countdown (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't readable media more the problem, since you can copy to another media? Writable media just means you can destroy it.
That's the purpose of the new WORN (Write Once, Read ? No.) standard. An elegant solution to the problem.
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Heck, my parents had a VHS copy of the movie back in like 1990!
Re:countdown (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I'm guessing they're just wanting to see what people will do. For that purpose, an already widely "pirated" film would be ideal.
The model of distributing the film on a USB key that serves as a DRM dongle is very curious. From a consumer point of view, this looks a lot like the way DVDs are supposed to work: the material is tied to the delivery vehicle. But -- you can also copy the movie to your hard disk, although it is still tied to the key. So, it's kind of an answer to iTunes, where you have a master key to your entire collection.
The USB format allows you to do kinds of cryptographic protections you couldn't do in a DVD. If the system requires Vista style DRM protections in the OS, then cracking the protection would be considerably harder as long as you can't just copy the file onto a hard disk. Allowing the user to copy the file to disk makes this a very interesting test. Clearly, this means that crackers will be able to put the entire DRM protocol under a microscope.
Maybe this is even what is intended.
There are a number of possible outcomes, all of which are interesting to a company that is evaluating a technology:
(1) The play from USB option is proven insecure.
(2) The play from disk option is proven insecure.
(3) One of [1,2], but not both.
(4) Both of [1,2], but sufficiently inconvenient to deter casual infringers.
etc.
Re:countdown (Score:5, Insightful)
Even without DRM, this is doomed to fail.
Why would one buy a movie in less than 2 GB quality on a device that costs dollars to produce instead of an 8.5 GB version on a storage device that costs pennies to produce?
And the latter being playable on computers and consumer devices, while the former needing not only a computer, but a certain operating system and special software?
Surely, the producers must know that this is doomed to fail, and only use it as another example to show the ignorant politicians that "See, we gave them more options, but they STILL pirate! Legislate, legislate!"
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Why do I imagine a horde of Dalek lawyers? "Legislate! Legislate!"
I unlocked the DRM!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I unlocked the DRM!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:countdown (Score:4, Funny)
Waiting to hear news that the movie's been unlocked in 3... 2... 1...
Good news for you...
Used copy of Ghost Busters: $5 - $10 or so
2GB Flash Drive: $15 - $20
DVD Shrink to strip out everything but the movie, compress enough to fit in 2GB, and save as an ISO image: Free
VLC Media Player [videolan.org] to play said ISO on Linux, BSD, Solaris, OS-X, BeOS, Windows, QNX (WTF is this?), or Syllable (WTF is this one as well?): Free
Purchasing an overpriced, DRMed version of a movie (that will most likely be playable only on a Windows box) just because it's sold on a Flash Drive?: Pointless
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QNX is a *nix for embedded applications, with a realtime microkernel, and Syllable is a fork of AtheOS, which was originally intended to be a modern Amiga-like OS.
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I mean, seriously? The next best is around the corner anyway...
Re:countdown (Score:4, Informative)
This hasn't stopped my company from using them for licensing... Despite me demonstrating this.
No thanks, I like to own media and do what I want (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa (Score:2)
No to mention the wasted space on the device...
Wonder though.. could you use dd to make a disc image of the whole drive and then mount it as loop and have it work?
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Sounds like there is DRM embedded in the video stream, so there's no way to decode it unless you have the right codec, which will look for the USB key.
It also sounds like it'll be locked to Windows, since I doubt they put that much effort into making it for Linux as well... Or even OSX.
It's really sad, because it's not like that's a hard movie to get... DVD, Divx... Just about every format imaginable is available on the web for that one.
Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa (Score:5, Funny)
Can't rip it, can't archive it, can't move it to my HDD without the dongle. And if the flash drive gets damaged, who you gonna call?
The pirate bay.
Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa (Score:4, Funny)
With apologies to Ray Parker, Jr.:
If there's D-R-M, on your movie now,
Who ya gonna call?
The Pirate Bay!
If the U-S-B, key just died,
Who ya gonna call?
The Pirate Bay!
dooodooodit doo dit do dit doo dit doooo dit doooo dit dooo dooo dit dododo
I ain't afraid of no cops.
dooodooodit doo dit do dit doo dit doooo dit doooo dit dooo dooo dit dododo
I ain't afraid of no cops.
Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa (Score:4, Informative)
> With apologies to Ray Parker, Jr.:
who in turn apologizes and makes a substantial payment to Huey Lewis for shamelessly ripping his tune off.
Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa (Score:5, Insightful)
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There is a point in the process between the USB Data and sending it to the display and sound. That is where the weekness is. Sure there is always the analog loophole. But you can get quality loss there. But for the hackers there is a spot where the data is sent and unencrypted and uncompressed that is probably sitting on your PC's Memory Before it sends it to the screen. If it is windows only then it may be some extra work, but nothing impossible... Heck a hardware hacker could probably find a way to duplic
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You do own the media. It's just the contents of the media, the message if you will, that you don't own.
One positive (Score:3, Funny)
One thing about movies on USB keys: At least they won't be scratched like they can be on DVDs.
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Re:One positive (Score:5, Interesting)
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USB scratch remover (Score:5, Funny)
DRM? laughable (Score:2)
The DRM will be broken as soon as the first reasonably intelligent person gets his or her hands on one.
correction (Score:2)
The DRM will be broken as soon as the first reasonably intelligent person
who doesn't already own a copy of ghostbusters
gets his or her hands on one.
Which probably makes for a rather small set of people.
Re:correction (Score:5, Insightful)
The industry is looking to set a record on longest lived DRM scheme. Everyone has this already, so no one will need to crack it, and a presentation will go to a CEO somewhere about this new scheme that has not been broken in over a week.
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There is some good USB based DRM solutions, that when implemented correctly would be pretty difficult to get the stuff off of. Something like the Wibu Key and its codemeter product.
http://wibu.com/start.php?lang=en [wibu.com]
It actually keeps all keys on the key itself, and they cannot be lifted (though they can be set).
Fun technology but I doubt that this specific product goes that far as the Wibu key is expensive.
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If nothing else, write your own video and audio drivers that "displays" the movie to a file.
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If I can play it, I can copy it.
I am sure Windows has an equivalent of the following: "mplayer /media/disk/Ghostbusters.avi -dumpstream"
Re:DRM? laughable (Score:5, Funny)
And this is why Windows is fine for nerds and hobbyists, but not ready for the mainstream desktop.
Denied (Score:5, Funny)
Aw. That's adorable.
"Go ahead and steal it", says spokesman (Score:5, Insightful)
You probably can't even get Ghostbusters down at your local "Three DVDs for $20" guy on the corner; his stock is all newer. Everybody who wants this movie already has it. I can't even imagine who they expect to sell it to, except as a novelty.
Presumably they're keeping an eye on how long it will take for the DRM to be broken. People will break it for the challenge and because they hate DRM, but it's like stealing cockroaches from my kitchen: you're welcome to it.
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Well, there is a new video game being released next year, so I'm sure the Super Ectoplasm editions of the movies will also be released at the same time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_The_Video_Game [wikipedia.org]
Some advice for users: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Some advice for users: (Score:5, Funny)
Windows would have been fine if dickless here hadn't shut off the main power grid.
How is this better than DVD? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:How is this better than DVD? (Score:4, Insightful)
You can erase it and store actual information on it?
USB keychain movies (Score:2)
I think this is cool, but it will it work with my USB keychain changer?
No novelty packaging.. fail! (Score:3, Interesting)
I can see this take off actually, the product allows for all sort of novelty packaging and product shapes. Forget about browsing the alphabet of your closet to find Spider-Man, just find the Spider-Man shaped USB key! Collecting large quantities might make organised storage a bit of a challenge though.
Does USB mass storage provide a way to ensure read-only access though? I wouldn't want some virus to have the potential to delete my porn, erm, Star Trek collection.
Not Impressed (Score:2)
Physical media (Score:2)
Too costly, too ubiquitous (Score:2)
While it's fine for a small-physical-format solid-state distribution medium, it's just too costly compared to (piracy aside) a DVD copy at $5-10. If the device's price were reduced for such content, fine ... but since a common 2GB thumbdrive is about $10, by what sanity is paying a >$20 premium to have just one movie thereon (and occupying significant space) reasonable?
Thing is, you get a thumbdrive to haul data around in ... and do you really want to be constantly hauling the same single movie around wi
The better question... (Score:3, Insightful)
PC/Laptop? (Score:2)
But a laptop is a PC...
I don't see the point in this. It seems that simply shifting between media is not the way to go: film downloads are the future. Be they rentals or outright purchases, movie downloads are going to kill the physically-sold film. (With devices like home entertainment computers and Apple TVs, it's just a matter of time.)
Oblig (Score:5, Funny)
If every file on my hard drive... (Score:5, Insightful)
...required me to keep possession of a USB-key-sized physical object in order to maintain access to it, then I calculate that I would need to keep about two thousand pounds of USB keys, which would be enough to fill approximately twenty desk drawers.
I guess it's not impossible on the face of it.
I could store them in shallow drawers, vertically, alphabetical order, with little P-touch labels on the end of each one.
Re:If every file on my hard drive... (Score:5, Funny)
Little Brother (Score:5, Informative)
This is insanity. I can download a copy of that stupid movie without Dumb Restrictions on Media from TPB, or I can just watch the tape I already paid for over ten years ago. Now, I'd buy the key with the movie pre-loaded, but to pay good money for crippleware when I can get a perfectly useable copy for free is just brain-dead stupid.
DRM doesn't affact copyright infringers whatsoever. It only inconvieniences paying customers. The only rational explanation for the MAFIAA's insanity is drugs - cocaine. It must be all the coke they're snorting/smoking/shooting that makes them behave like a bunch of thieving, distrusting, irrational crack whores.
I just started reading Cory Doctorow's Little Brother [craphound.com] (HTML version linked; there are other formats here [craphound.com]), and its preface has something to say about the insanity that is DRM (I've abbreviated it a bit):
BTW, the 90's called.... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Betamax vs. VHS (Score:5, Insightful)
Blue Ray won't "win" the format wars until they sell more than standard def DVDs
Re:Betamax vs. VHS (Score:5, Insightful)
I dunno. USB keys have a far superior form factor, and the installed players need only have a USB port and whatever processing is needed to actually view the movie.
You could have media players smaller than a Nintendo Wii, far better future compatibility (both the players and the disks are likely to be backwards compatible in a way that either could work with the other for quite some time)
The media is far less susceptible to scratching, impact, and even heat and chemicals: I've put USB sticks through the washer AND drier and what came out has worked perfectly for over five years.
It's also more portable. You can grab a handful of films and stick 'em in your back pocket before visiting friends (so they're also likely to be lost easily.. a big win for Hollywood!)
The only drawbacks are capacity at the moment (it's not anywhere near as cheap as optical disk. Although I wonder how expensive 30GB mask roms would be for a print run the size of a typical hollywood film (if anyone was making mask rom of anywhere near that size, that is)) and DRM: a usb stick can have active crypto circuitry, which really changes the game quite significantly.
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Re:HAHAHAHAHAHA! (Score:5, Insightful)
As I can't fathom cocaine users, I asked a crack whore why she thought the coke shooters running the movie studios would do this.
"Sure, I'll tell you, but it'll cost you twenty dollars".
"Twenty dollars??? Sorry, babe, I'll buy you a double cheeseburger at McDonalds, how's that?"
"OK, that'll do. See, they want this to FAIL and fail hard. They're doing this to prove that the concept is unworkable."
"Ok, I'll take you to McDonalds now."
"Man, I ain't goin' nowhere, I'm tweakin', dude. Just go get the burger, it's for my dog anyway, I'm not hungry. OK?"
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