Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Each Declare Exclusive Support for HD DVD

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Each Declare Exclusive Support for HD DVD

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20 — Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE: DWA), each announced today that they will exclusively support the next-generation HD DVD format on a worldwide basis. The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.

The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs. Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit “Blades of Glory” on August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year “Transformers” and “Shrek the Third”. These three titles alone represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide.

“The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD,” stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. “Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount.”

“We decided to release “Shrek the Third” and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience — families,” stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. “We believe the combination of this year’s low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home.”

With the rapid increase of HD TV screens in households, and audiences wanting to enjoy the total entertainment experience, HD DVD has emerged as the most affordable way for consumers to watch their movies in high definition. In addition to pristine quality, HD DVD also offers consumers the chance to personalize the movie-watching experience, to interact with their movies and even to connect with a community of other fans.

Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new releases day and date as well as catalog titles exclusively on HD DVD. Today’s announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.

To Paramount and DreamWorks SKG - Regarding the decision by Paramount Pictures and co. to release movies exclusively on HD DVD: You have made a terrible mistake. The only possible reason to do this would be money. The $150 Million that you all profited from this will eventually come to nothing.

Target is only selling Blu-Ray players, Blockbuster will only rent Blu-Ray movies and current market sales indicate that Blu-Ray outsells HD DVD 2:1. Myself and many hundreds of thousands of others will never invest in HD-DVD, and many have stopped buying normal DVDs altogether. Therefore, their $1.5 billion in ticket sales will be released on a format that 2 out of every 3 Hi-Def consumers will never purchase.

Thank you Paramount and DreamsWorks for taking away many movies that I would have otherwise enjoyed watching on Blu-Ray, such as “Transformers”, “Iron-Man”, and many more. I will not be buying or renting these on DVD. All they have done is to prolong a dispute that should have ended by now between the competing formats. Had they gone Blu-Ray exclusive, they would have made much more money not only in the short term, but also in the long run.

There are rumors of a $150 million payout by the HD-DVD consortium to nab the Viacom exclusivity, which sure would help explain the move more than the officially given reasons despite all market data showing Blu-Ray gaining market share over the HD video market.

Everyone needs to band together and send as much mail to them as possible regarding their poor decision. They do not supply an email address, they only accept snail mail. I’ve written to Paramount in the past and this is the address I have:

Paramount Home Entertainment
5555 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA
90038-3197

I received a response from them when I wrote about another matter. If anyone has a different address then add it to the comment box.

Babel makes Japan ill

Japan warned over Babel sickness

Hollywood film Babel could make viewers ill, according to its Japanese distributor which has taken out newspaper adverts to warn cinema-goers. About 15 people have complained of feeling sick while watching the film since it opened in Japan last week.

The concerns are thought to centre on a scene featuring Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi in a nightclub.

Distributor Gaga Communications has warned it features “highly stimulating effects” such as strobe lighting.

The company has placed warnings about the Oscar-nominated film in national newspapers, on their website and has also requested it to be displayed on posters at about 300 cinemas.

Cinema managers have also reported people falling ill.

The scene where Kikuchi, playing a high school girl dancing in a club with flashing and swirling lights, left five women feeling sick at at the Midland Square Cinema in city of Nagoya.

Manager Toshiyuki Ichiji told the AFP news agency said they were warning customers about the film.

“We are handing out a handbill advising customers not to focus on the screen but to look away appropriately during the scene,” he said.

At another cinema in Yokkaichi, an elderly man needed time to rest and recover from sickness after watching the film.

Manager Takashi Hattori said he was preparing to issue a health warning to viewers.

Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, has been a media sensation in Japan, as Kikuchi was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a deaf schoolgirl who cannot speak.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6614715.stm

At first I thought the headline referred to moviegoers getting sick after seeing the final scene involving Kikuchi’s character and the detective she tries to seduce. Then I thought maybe it was the finale that also involved Kukuchi’s character and the father that disturbed Japanese audiences. Apparently, I was wrong on both counts despite those being the most disturbing set of events that took place of the four storylines in Babel. It’s funny how this warning comes from a film distributor called Gaga Communications…

Turns out, it was the scene in Tokyo where they go meet guys and hang out in a nightclub after the girls drink and consume large amounts of alcohol and drugs. If you watched the film, you will understand the underlying theme are the connections among separate lives and the idea that one person’s action can set off a serious of events that touch lives. Both Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza did a fine job in the film convincing us of the frustrations of a deaf-mute schoolgirl to a Mexican nanny that cares for her children and those of her employer. The only overrated performance came from Brad Pitt, who simply spent 2 hours acting like an “Emo Kid” in Morocco.

I actually thought Babel had a shot at winning the Best Picture at the Oscar because it was a movie about people and it gave viewers an idea of the world outside America. Again I was wrong since it was an American remake of “Infernal Affairs” with a twist ending that won the Oscar for Best Picture. The year 2006 was really a great year for movies ranging from Batman Begins, Babel, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, Borat, Casino Royale, Children of Men, An Inconvenient Truth, Little Miss Sunshine, Letters from Iwo Jima, and even Flags of Our Fathers. I still have yet to see Dreamgirls, which was loosely based on Diana Ross and The Supremes, Happy Feet and Pan’s Labyrinth, which are also great films from last year.

If regular Japanese taxpayers are getting sick from watching Babel in theatres using conventional projectors, I can only imagine what would happen if Babel was seen on 1080p definition on Blu-ray. I am guessing it may be a similar reaction to what happened when Pokemon had that episode that sent Japanese kids to the hospital for epileptic seizures.

The HD Video Disc Format War takes an interesting turn

For those who have been living in bomb shelter, there is currently a format war to become the de facto HD Video disc between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Currently, the struggle for market share has become less decisive than the original VHS and Betamax format war.

So far there are no clear winners in the format war despite what each company claims. Sony claims that their blu-ray technology is winning the war by pointing to sales figures of their Playstation 3, the number of blu-ray discs sold by retailers, and their studio exclusives while Toshiba claims their HD-DVD format is winning out because they are selling HD-DVD players at low prices, bundling their HD-DVD releases with DVD versions, and having the support of major American porn studios. However, one major factor that isn’t taken into consideration is the format’s ability to deter piracy with DRM encryption.

Recently, several technology encryption experts or better known as hackers were able to test the formats security by successfully cracking the HD-DVD’s processing key to unlock all relevant data from the movie discs. Here is a song about the string of characters that can easily unlock an HD-DVD for mass consumption:

For those who are curious the song’s lyrics are actually ” 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0“ which happens to be the same string of code that is driving the Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA) apeshit. This is why AACS sent a legal threat to google to ceast and desist discussion of this security hole in HD-DVDs:

 

Re: Illegal Offering of Processing Key to Circumvent AACS Copyright Protection http://uscpwned.blogspot.com/2007/02/holy-grail-located-hd-dvd-and-blu-ray.html
[http://linuxnotes.blogspot.com/2007/02/09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63.html
http://simonsta.blogspot.com/2007/02/lost-meets-aacs.html
http://cronicasredux.blogspot.com/2007/02/crypto.html]

Dear Google Inc.

We represent Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), developer, proprietor and licensor of the Advanced Access Content System (AACS). AACS is an integrated set of technological protection measures that controls access to and prevents unauthorized copying of copyrighted motion pictures embodied on high definition DVDs.

It is our understanding that you are providing to the public the above-identified tools and services at the above referenced URL, and are thereby providing and offering to the public a technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof that is primarily designed, produced, or marketed for the purpose of circumventing the technological protection measures afforded by AACS (hereafter, the “circumvention offering”). Doing so constitutes a violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA“), 17 U.S.C. §§ 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b)(1). Providing or offering the circumvention offering identified above, and any other such offering that is primarily designed or produced to circumvent protection measures, or which has only limited commercial significant purpose other than to circumvent, or which are offered to the public with knowledge that it is for use in circumventing, violates the rights of AACS and any others harmed as well. See §§ 1201(a)(2), 1201(b)(1), and 1203.

In view of the foregoing apparent anti-circumvention violations, we demand that you immediately:

1) remove or cause to be removed the above-specified AACS circumvention offering and any other circumvention offering which is designed, produced or provided to circumvent AACS or to assist others in doing so, and/or any links directly thereto, from the URL identified above and from any other forum or website on which you have provided any circumvention offering; and

2) refrain from posting or causing to be provided any AACS circumvention offering or from assisting others in doing so, including by direct links thereto, on any website now or at any time in the future.

Failure to do so will subject you to legal liability.

Please confirm to the undersigned in writing no later than noon a week from the above-indicated date that you have complied with these demands. You may reach the undersigned by telephone at [private] or by email at [private]@proskauer.com. AACS LA reserves all further rights and remedies with respect to this matter.

Very truly yours,

[private]
Counsel for AACS LA

So making excessive threats against bloggers over this poorly implemented encryption scheme isn’t going to stop people from talking about it. It should be noted that many bloggers and a few journalists merely discussed the piece of code that could decrypt HD-DVDs but not the steps to do it. Now what does this mean for HD-DVDs and Blu-rays?

Even so, the new method completely compromises HD-DVD in principle, as it relies on AACS alone to encrypt data, even if there are other parts of the puzzle that are yet to fit together. Blu-Ray has two more levels of protection: ROM-MARK (a per factory watermark, which might revoke mass production rights from a factory but not, it seems individuals) and BD+, another encryption system, which hasn’t actually been used yet on sold disks (but which soon will be), meaning that its own status seems less obviously compromised.

How might the companies respond? The processing key can now be changed for future disks. However, the flaws inherent in the system make it appear easy to discover the replacement: the method of attack itself will be hard to offset without causing knock-on effects. For example, revoking player keys (in advance of obfuscating the keys in memory in future revisions of the system) would render current players unable to view future movies. Revoking the volume and processing keys that have been hacked would mean that all movies to date would not run on new players.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/02/the_new_hddvdbl.html

Suddenly blu-ray looks more promising for studios who desire stronger protection of their IP in addition to the relatively greater sales. It is also safe to say that HD-DVD is going to become the new Betamax if they don’t find a way to resolve this situation other than making idle threats to random bloggers or search engines. The problem is already here just from seeing the sheer volume of ripped HD-DVDs available on bittorrent compared to a handful of Blu-ray titles.

There are other links that discuss this security hole in greater detail and I don’t planned on being threatened over it. Besides many of these pages are available on Digg and Google.