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Author Topic: Carmike installing 2300 Christie/AIX DLP systems Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2006 03:50 AM                     quote: Bobby Henderson An unlock program mailed separately on a USB thumb drive is used to validate and activate the movie. Actually ALL code keys are e-mailed since they change frequently...generally weekly. Previews are not code keyed at this point in time. Sony is the only one so far that issues code keys one time for the entire contracted run of a show. All others are weekly. All are e-mailed and can then be saved on the USB stick and loaded into the server. Bobby, Got any idea how many symbols and numbers are in a code key? Mark  |  IP: Logged Paul Konen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 981 From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2006 09:00 AM                     Mark, my KDM is usually about 14K. It is an XML file so you can read it and confirm the playdates.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-01-2006 11:30 AM                     Mark, that is not correct. Technicolor and Deluxe send the keys via USB drive weekly. AccessIT ingests the drives over our DSL line. We only get ours emailed in an emergency (drive doesn't arrive by Thursday afternoon, etc).  |  IP: Logged Paul Konen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 981 From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2006 12:23 PM                     Yes, while it is much easier to send the KDMs through email. Some circuits don't / won't allow it. They have disabled the USB ports on office computers. They are concerned that a thumb drive might have a virus / trojan and don't want the network infected. (That is why you have an AV program running with up-to-date signatures) Firewalls blocking ZIP files Office computers not being able to unzip. Then the distributors have the issue with getting ALL the thumb drives back. I have noticed that they are making / finding the smallest (in terms of memory) drives they can as to reduce cost. One of the points of this is to reduce costs, right?  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-01-2006 03:07 PM                     Thumb drives are pretty cheap. If purchased in volume those things cost more to express mail than the drives are worth. Even throw in the factor of ruining one of those 300GB portable hard discs. That's still under the $300 mark, several hundred dollars less than the bottom price for a 35mm film print. quote: Mark Gulbrandsen Bobby, Got any idea how many symbols and numbers are in a code key? I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if the key had a lot more numbers and letters in it than what one has to enter to install most pieces of legally purchased software.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-01-2006 03:15 PM                    Would there be a problem with someone posting a long ago dead and useless XML key file? I'm curious as to what they look like.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-02-2006 01:27 AM                     I don't know about other theatres returning their flash drives but we send ours back faithfully-Technicolor's in the pre-paid envelopes they provide and Deluxe's with the prints per their request. It seems it would be a fairly easy thing to charge the theatre for if they weren't returned. As for posting a key-yeah, right. I value my job a bit more than that. Each key is unique to not only to a particular film but also to a specific screen (specifically, the serial number on the digital server). It would be rather easy to trace where a key came from and I'm pretty sure the studios don't want people analyzing them too much.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-02-2006 08:48 AM                    Well, they shouldn't have standardized them as plain text then. Even with the public key, no one would be able to do much to break into anything. That's the whole point of having a public key. The private key is probably embedded in the projector's hardware somehow. I'm just curious as to what the file looks like. But I won't press it any further here. If anyone is willing to show me one, please PM me. Thanks.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-02-2006 10:03 AM                        Question of time before it is "cracked." Louis  |  IP: Logged Jason Setzer Film Handler Posts: 46 From: Tampa, Florida Registered: Aug 2006 posted 11-02-2006 10:26 AM                     You guys are assuming that the theatres are going to pay for the projectors, when in fact the only thing required by the theatres is to pay the install cost and a maitenance contract on each projector. The film companies pay for the actual projectors.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-02-2006 10:52 AM                    That's one of the concerns in that some companies out there do not want someone else owning the equipment and having to be suckered into a long term contract to maintain them. Some companies have been burned by long term contracts. Ownership of the projector means that you have control of it not someone else.  |  IP: Logged Jason Setzer Film Handler Posts: 46 From: Tampa, Florida Registered: Aug 2006 posted 11-02-2006 11:18 AM                     I agree, but the issue is not to many companies can afford 100,000 a screen for the install. And for those who cannot this is really the only option. Once Amc or Regal signs with one of these companies the deal is probably gonna get canner or it will take forever for you to get your install.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-02-2006 11:37 AM                     First off...you are all loons if you think studios will be footing the projector bill forever. The $$$$ just does not make sense....somebody has to be paying that bill somewhere and they are going to need a profit on that investment. If theatres are barely making it running their film projectors that have an effective cost of nearly $0 due to their relative cheap cost combined with near limitless life expectancy, how on earth can anyone come up with a business plan that includes $50K-$100K projectors that have a relatively short life expectancy of 5-7 years. Those numbers just don't add up. Those that are only paying a nominal install fee plus maint. contract are clearly not paying for the actual cost of the equipment...someone has to be taking enough profit out of the deal to pay for the equipment...that someone is not the exhibitor...who can't make enough money now. Also...what happens if the Christie/AIX thing implodes...who owns the equipment then? Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-02-2006 11:45 AM                    quote: Louis Bornwasser Question of time before it is "cracked." If they're still using widely published, widely tested, and widely implemented public key encryption algorithms - and I don't know why they wouldn't be, it's not likely to be cracked any time soon. Cracking that would have very far reaching implications into the banking industry, government agencies, NASA, credit card companies, and everything else. The only chance of breaking in would be to compromise a projector's private key, which is likely buried in the hardware and irretrievable by everyone but the manufacturer.  |  IP: Logged Paul Konen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 981 From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-02-2006 12:43 PM                     Mike, sent you a pm.  |  IP: Logged

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