Kaleidescape Brings DRM to Blu-ray Copying

Im sorry, but this is a an utterly laughable solution.

Notwitstanding the “temporary” angle, are we then to understand that the sole purpose of then releasing a 100 disc changer or vault or whatever the want to call it to act as a glorified bookshelf? Nothing more than a placed to put a disc so that it can check that the client owns it??

So what will these 100 disc Changers cost each? Given that they will be K branded, I am going to guess $ 4,500??

So this then is the state of our industry for clients who want a “legal” Bluray solution??

And eyes will roll in 3….2….1

@Flip:

I’d say that about sums it up.  However, if you can think of a more elegant and less costly solution to verify ownership of physical media, I’m sure K-scape (and the rest of us)would love to hear about it.

I was expecting some sort of proof of ownership code or something to work with Blu-ray’s managed copy.  The unique code would be included with each physical disc, and you could enter it to upload the disc to your server. While slightly more of a pain than before, there wouldn’t be new hardware to buy.

Of course, a working code still doesn’t guarentee that the owner still owns the media, only that it was purchased in the first place.  Then there is the admin nightmare for code validation, a large number of codes in the wild means hackers can figure out how to crack it, etc etc.

sigh… for want of a legal solution…

Is it possible to be too fast and too slow at the same time?  K-Scape seems to have figured how to in this case.

While I am happy to finally see a blu-ray product, I am dissapointed that the changer is so far away.  K-Scape clients generally are not going to worry too much about the cost of the changer, but I feel they will be put off by having to put the discs into the tray even htough they have been ripped to the Hard Drives.

It seems they have spent a tremendous amount of time and effort on this band-aid.  Personally, I would much rather of seen them release the players (Sans Ripping) until they get the changer nailed down and provided things like iTunes,  Netflix and VuDu sooner than later.

Wow!  I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in Kaleidescape (KAL)!  They have CRIED UNCLE before the war is even over!  What a bunch of Big Brother loving, “1984” implementing bureaucrats!  As a FIRST GENERATION KAL owner, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEIR SYSTEM, even though it cost me WAY TOO MUCH.  However, I WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT PURCHASE ANY TYPE OF HARDWARE, SOFTWARE or FIRMWARE that allows its MANUFACTURER, OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER, TO CHECK ON MY VIDEO LIBRARY or ANYTHING IN IT!!!!!!!!!!  Are they really SERIOUS about this?  If so, it is UNBELIEVABLE, at best, and SHOCKING at worst.  It is real simple, I will just switch off my KALs and use my AppleTVs solely, from now on.  FORGET THE DAMN DISKS, BLU-RAY or DVD!!!  If I want to watch a HD Movie I’ll just download it from iTunes onto my AppleTVs & copy it from there to my iPad or iPod to watch it on the go.  The AppleTV software interface on my TVs is already EXCELLENT so I won’t need to change anything.  Sorry, KAL, it’s been a nice ride; but, FREEDOM is MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN YOUR RIDICULOUS DRM BOWING, COMMUNIST SCANNING & CHECKING METHODS.  If I were you, I WOULD FOCUS ON WINNING THE STUPID COURT CASE INSTEAD OF INSULTING ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS WITH THIS “FREEDOM OF OWNED USE” ROBBING GARBAGE!  Also, THE STUDIOS AND THEIR DRM BOARD IDIOTS HAD BETTER TAKE NOTICE NOW!  I would rather PAY FOR A DOWNLOADED DIGITAL COPY THAT I AM FREE TO MOVE TO ANY OF MY TVs, MY iPad or iPod, than PAY FOR THEIR NO-COPY RESTRICTED BLU-RAYs or DVDs.  STALIN & MAO are both smiling in their graves at this KAL announcement; but, I predict that THE FREE MARKET WILL, VERY SOON, RENDER THESE CONTROL-FREAK COMPANIES BANKRUPT!  It starts, right here, right now, with me!

There are many great minds in the world to solve problems like robots on Mars, cures for cancer, etc., and we just wasted a few of them on a solution for backwards thinking Hollywood studio execs.
Congrats America! We’re circling the technology toilet.

@Paul,

Yes I agree. I WISH I could offer another elegant and “legal” solution, but unfortunately I cant. And I know that like me, the rest of you are just as frustrated as hell that WE CANT!!

I didnt really want to say this eariler, but what I think IS REALLY going on here with this very ANTIQUATED approach is really setting up a final last ditch “Hail Mary” Play that K might have to toss.

What I mean is, I really believe that there is MUCH MORE going on behind the scenes legally than the rest of us are privy to right now. And the rash of Server Companies folding up their tents all at once lately leads me to believe this.

With all the legal issues hanging over K’s head right now, this may not really be a BLURAY solution at all, but a “solution” that they may end up having to offer if they LOSE the upcoming legal battles with respect to DRM and ripping PERIOD!

Call me nuts, but crazier things have happened. What if some crack pot judge totally rules AGAINST K. in the near future??

A changer based solution may end up being the ONLY LEGAL solution that even allows them to use REGULAR DVD’s!!!

I mean, isnt that what the current cases still open against K. are all about? That Hollywood doesn’t even want people to be able to RIP the REGULAR DVD’s that they own??

I heard a suggestion years ago that seemed like a great solution to me - a bar code scanner attached the Kscape system.  When the client purchased a new Blu-ray, he would put the disc in the Kscape tray to import it.  Then while it was being imported, he’d scan the bar code that only exists on the cover of the movie case. 

This would eliminate the ability to copy discs from Netflix, Blockbuster etc.  A client could still conceivably copy a neighbor’s movie, but it would kill the much larger problem of assembly line style importation with a Netflix plan.

Guys,

If you want to be able to play back BDs from a server, just buy one from the guys that make servers that will let you do it (S1Digital, Niveus, VB, etc) Simple! No need to get your knickers in a knot about K if they want to do it this way…

Wow!  This has got to be the best way for hackers to keep doing what they are doing.  I really like the idea of the copy code.  I think that it is ridiculous to say that the server needs a disc in the tray.  After all the legal battling with the gloves on, this is what was put on the table?  To even say that this is a viable temporary solution is hilarious.  I give up on disc media.  The sooner we get to ownership over the internet and just stream from a remote server in cyberspace the better.

Totally useless and pointless.

Is this some kind of a joke?  Why would anyone (besides those with more money than brains) want to go with this solution.  And their changer won’t be out until 2011?  You can use a Dune player and NAS setup running My Movies TODAY for a fraction of the cost of K-Scape, and have a very elegant, efficient interface.  K-Scape is really behind the times.

@ Paul, it is my understanding that these laws are across the board.  If these other server companies haven’t been hit with a lawsuit yet, this will set the standard.  Just because they work now does not mean they can keep doing what they are doing.  Where is Escient? GONE!  Legal battles are expensive.

As for that AppleTV solution mentioned above, what about lossless audio codecs, and what is the bitrate on the streamed 1080p?

A streaming/downloading solution that offers the full blu ray spec is best for us and Hollywood. 

Why would I bother ripping rented blu rays when somebody has already done it for me?  Once China gets their hands on the disks for production they are on torrent sites within hours.  Physical media is the hole not analog.

They would then need to come up with something for people without broadband.

How about Kscape becoming a BD dealer, just like any other retailer?Their discs will be specially encoded from the Movie producers with a unique code that loads into the player and authorizes play within the Kscape environment only.

The downside to Kscape owners is that they have to buy their movies from them, but if done within 10% of the movie retailer, this would be acceptable. Bulk buys would happen or preloaded content available would be possible. Kscape would record and return the disc and declare the owners.

To have the media in the player reminds me of an XBOX360. That hideous arrangement is not going to go over well, even if just temporary. Kscape is just sinking in a sea of technology passing them by. This is just a lifejacket. It won’t protect you from the sharks.

Where is Joel Degray on this one? 

Joel, any insight into this solution?  I know you might like it as you can sell more drive space to redundantly store info that is already stored on a disc, that has to be in the tray to play in the first place.

Again, I resubmit my business proposition to K-Scape that they become a GUI and Media Management Software company and license their software to people who want to manage their media.  You have no more liability in that sense than does Microsoft when they provide a sortable folder for your your pirated MP3’s and torrents to live in

They have instead just morphed into the Elan of old with their ViaDVDJ and the Sony 777ES DVD Changer.  g! I wonder why that went away. . .

Joel, you can still sell drive space, people need it.  You just can’t sell it all to one company now.  Get the marketing people turning on a B2C strategy.

The studios are doing what CEDIA instructor Rich Green would call disintermediation, getting us as integrators out of the way, to get their digital products and all the associated hardware to manage and play them direct to consumers.  We will buy media as a tiered solution, as we will our broadband, paying more for extra formats and extra bandwidth.

Where’s Cisco at ???  I need to be a Health Presence Dealer