Finally, a Bluray Player that Works!

So, finally fed up with a growing collection of Bluray discs that I can't watch, I went out and bought a new player last night.

And I'm shocked to report that it actually works. And no, that is not me being facetious.

The list of failures my old player presented me with is long and stretches back all the way to the day I got it. A specific example would be Batman Begins, a problem disc to be sure.

I like this movie. It really is a shame that the sequel is a steaming pile (I hope the third is better), but even more disappointing is the fact that I have been unable to watch the Bluray that is in my possession.

Okay, that is not entirely true, I was able to watch it once on my computer, but that was a struggle in itself. The digital lock would not permit me to watch past the warning and logo screens. I naively tried to update the software that came with the computer, a move which locked out all the movies I own, including the ones I had previously watched on my computer; such titles as Iron Man, Get Smart, Stargate, and The Fifth Element. I finally resorted to a trial version of an on the fly DRM stripping program called AnyDVD. It worked. . . the first time.

My old LG never would play this disc. I always found this to be rather odd. Batman Begins is not a new title. It was not even when I bought the player. The digital key should have been available even then, and certainly via firmware update since. It never was.

Begining to doubt that the player was at fault when I tried to watch this movie on my computer for a second time, I even tried dropping the disc in boiling water for ten seconds, a remedy I had read about that had cured some Xbox discs. No go. In fact the computer would no longer even recognize that the disc was valid.

I thought I had killed it.

Not so. Last night, and continuing this morning, I began going through the list of discs that wouldn't play on my old LG. So far so good; they all play. With trepidation, and little hope, I placed Batman Begins on the tray of my new Sony BDP-BX58. Success - an FBI warning! Then the WB logo! Then the menu! Wonder of all wonders, the movie even played!

Okay, so the picture quality of this old bluray isn't the best. DNR all over the place. At least the movie itself is good. And more importantly, I can see it again!

Rating for Sony's BDP-BX58

*****/5

No DRM = Less Piracy?

Yeah, I knew this too (see my previous post). Apparently, a recent study shows that abandoning DRM would actually reduce digital piracy because legal customers would no longer be driven to other means in order to avoid being harassed. Shocking. . .

While I have a hard time understanding how anyone could not see this as common sense, I can believe that the sociopaths and other power freaks that run business might not.

Canada to Support Evil

I knew this was going to happen. . . but I wanted the 'tough on crime' Bill and the eradication of the long gun registry. . .

The specific evil to which I refer in the title of this post is the provision in Bill C-32 that makes it illegal to break DRM even for personal use of media that you paid for.

Let's be clear here: DRM is evil! It is the equivalent of selling a house that only one person can live in, no one can visit, the key may or may not open the front door even if the newest version of key has been provided, ownership can be revoked at any moment at the whim of the vendor, yet it cannot be resold when the 'owner' needs to move to a new city and it cannot be jacked up and trucked to the new property.

The most annoying aspect of this is that DRM serves no purpose unless law-abiding customer annoyance is the purpose. Pirates tear through DRM like tissue paper. Sometimes, the new encryption is broken before it even hits the market.

In fact, it can be argued that digital piracy exists, in part, because of DRM. This is due to the annoyance factor. Personally I have been stung with a number of Blu-rays that simply won't load despite installation of the latest firmware. Worse yet, the new firmware broke compatibilty with some of my Blu-rays that previously would load.

And I know I'm not the only one being inconvenienced by DRM. In fact, I would wager that the only people being inconvenienced by DRM are legal consumers. I've read many testimonials on the internet from those who have purchased a game that, due to draconian DRM (worthy of its own post), was unplayable so they downloaded a cracked copy. I've also read about people ripping DVD's just so that they don't have to watch the anti-piracy ad every time they want to watch a movie.

Just to highlight some of the lunacy this Bill represents, here are a few quotes from the article listed above:

"Bill C-32 would make it legal for consumers to make a back-up copy of content to protect against loss or damage."

Then later:

"Under the law, Canadians will not be allowed to break digital locks, even if it's for personal use. This includes picking a lock on a DVD purchased overseas to watch at home or to transfer a purchased e-book to read on another personal device."

How does it even make sense to say that you can make backups for personal use, yet you can not bypass the DRM to do so?

Useless.

Meanwhile there is still no word about removal of the 29 cent levy on blank CD's, which is supposed to compensate musical artists for piracy (and tacitly making said piracy legal) or how this will affect the Mountie's stance regarding file-sharers.

And hey, what is a conservative government doing meddling in the affairs of business anyway?

Harper! Laissez-nous faire!

P.s. Tivo and other PVRs were illegal? What was Futureshop really selling in all those boxes then?

"The law will legalize everyday consumer practices, such as using a personal video recorder to record a TV show for later viewing or copying music from a purchased CD to an MP3 player. These are not allowed under the current law."

Blu-ray Sucks!

I'm sick and tired of Blu-ray DRM. More specifically, I'm tired of buying movies and having to wait upwards of a month to watch it because the latest firmware for my player isn't out yet. I'm tired of disc load times that creep ever upward. I'm tired of disc failures due to damaged DRM tracks. I'm sick because I payed for this headache. And I'm sick because I also payed for an expensive Blu-ray drive for my computer that requires an even more expensive piece of software that still won't play my movies!

The insanity of it all is that there is absolutely no reason to keep changing the encryption every time a new movie comes out. Let me be absolutely clear on this point: DRM does not stop pirates! What it does manage to do, and do quite well I might add, is piss of those of us that insist on giving our money to these jokers.

Now why is it that everyone seems to be joining Netflix?