my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » Having a look at the Paramount direct VPF contract.. (Page 2)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: Having a look at the Paramount direct VPF contract.. Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 03-10-2009 10:05 AM                     Like any contract it gives almost all of the rights and privileges to the entity that originated the contract, and they are well aware that the independents don't have enough clout to do much about it.  |  IP: Logged Julio Roberto Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 938 From: Madrid, Madrid, Spain Registered: Oct 2008 posted 03-10-2009 10:48 AM                    They can push associations and other independents to vouch for not signing contracts and switching to digital. If enough do, it won't happen at a significant scale, and distributors would have to reconsider if they still want a switch to digital. As it stands, it looks like they are not very interested, so why should anybody else?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-10-2009 12:01 PM                        They ARE very interested in the switch. They are just not interested in paying their fair share for it. I just hope the major players in the industry hold out for more reasonable terms. If they don't, we're all screwed in 10 years, probably.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 03-10-2009 12:11 PM                        Studios have no real interest in Digital; they are scared to death of high-quality copies, also their costs went up severely since they have to pay "outsiders" on each and every print. Theatres cannot recoup the expense. They also have nothing to gain. Who does? The 3rd parties/outsiders. Look to see where "information" comes from and judge it accordingly. Louis  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-10-2009 08:22 PM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser Studios have no real interest in Digital; they are scared to death of high-quality copies, also their costs went up severely since they have to pay "outsiders" on each and every print. Thats the biggest load of crap I've read here in three weeks! About as useful as the present Box Office magazine is.... Actually the studios loose their films from editorial department leakage, dishonest lab people and other "inside sources" that sneak them out. Until they stop that from happenning they should just close up and stay home!  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 03-10-2009 09:47 PM                     The majors won't hold out because they either have the bucks or can arrange the financing. Para. is making a token offer because they don't want it to be said that nothing was done to assist the independents in making the change. The nature of the deal is such that what they are really saying is fuck you and good riddance.  |  IP: Logged Tristan Lane Master Film Handler Posts: 444 From: Nampa, Idaho Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-11-2009 01:46 AM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser Studios have no real interest in Digital; they are scared to death of high-quality copies How does d-cinema promote high-quality copies of pirated movies? If nothing else, it helps eliminate cap code, while still being able designate where the camcorded movie came from. If you think the studios are worried about people pirating content straight from the DCP, you're wrong. The encryption is too strong. DCI did their homework on that end of things. The only thing that is going to stop high-quality pirated copies is to look into their own operations and the people they distribute screener content to.(as Mark said above) HDCP is far less of an encryption standard and people still haven't found a cheap or easy way around that.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-11-2009 06:59 AM                     quote: Tristan Lane HDCP is far less of an encryption standard and people still haven't found a cheap or easy way around that. Why do you believe that hasn't been broken? There are indeed HDCP strippers out there. Steve  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-11-2009 07:16 AM                        I'd be amazed if the DCI encryption lasted a decade before being broken, or at least without some other weakness in the system being exploited to allow the "content" to be made available in an unencrypted form. Remember that CSS was broken by a 16-year-old kid.  |  IP: Logged Lyle Romer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1400 From: Davie, FL, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 03-11-2009 10:12 AM                     The major weakness is that obviously the image needs to be unencrypted somewhere in the projector head. The right electronics carefully tapped into the right places would be able to copy it. I think the whole idea is that by embedding the metadata in the image, if somebody did this they would know exactly which projector the copy was made from and where that projector is. If somebody did crack the protection on the movie file allowing copies to be made off the hard drives, software upgrades could close the holes. This is possible since unlike blu-ray you're not talking about tens of millions of deployed units. Worldwide there will only be at most a couple of hundred thousand when the transition is complete.  |  IP: Logged Tristan Lane Master Film Handler Posts: 444 From: Nampa, Idaho Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-11-2009 11:30 AM                     Steve, I'm well aware that there are HCDP strippers out there, but I feel that is different than cracking the encryption itself. The stripper simply emulates an HDCP compliant display. I'm not denying the fact that someone with enough knowledge and resources could break Cinelink with a stripper of sorts. I feel that the hardware needed to capture the video post-decryption from the projector, and the risks involved defeat any benefit the potential pirate might gain. How plausible is it really for someone to make a device that emulates a projector head simply to trick the decryption? My point was that I don't see any increased risk of piracy from current DCP encryption over film, nor do we hear of anyone "almost" pirating a movie from a DCP. Quality pirated digital copies of films were hitting the streets when D cinema was still in it's infancy.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 03-11-2009 12:22 PM                        Currently piracy means home units not sold. With D Cinema, it is possible to copy a cinema ready clone. This has never been financially possible before, 35mm copies from prints look horrible. What makes you believe that the code has not already been cracked? Remember: "Bigger lock, bigger key." FWIW: While I do not know of anyone who has cracked this code, I do know of those (friends & relatives) who crack codes for a living. They believe it to be "no problem" for those who are at the top of their craft. Louis  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-11-2009 12:48 PM                     I think one of the biggest things on the side of D-cinema remaining unbroken is: why would pirates want to bother? DVD quality or a good bit lower than that seems to be good enough for most people into watching bootlegged movies. It's easier for pirates to dub off DVD screener discs and the like rather than haul some expensive computing gear into a d-cinema projection booth to attempt ripping a d-cinema screening to some hard discs. Not many people are going to want to download such an enormous amount of data either -especially when telcos are now setting up bandwidth toll meters.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-11-2009 01:23 PM                        quote: Bobby Henderson why would pirates want to bother? Because it is there? You really think there aren't enough geeks out there who would do it for the challenge? Once the software/hardware safety's are cracked, the same people who would run a bootleg copy of a 35mm print would be more than happy to do the same with a digital copy.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-11-2009 05:59 PM                     I still think it's going to be basically an impossibility to pull off. First off I remember someone telling me that that a KDM is equivelent to about 10,000 pages of code. Secondly, the decryption signal changes randomly at least at 30 minute intervals... if one unplugs the Cinelink-2 to the projector the image will continue on until the required decryption update interval at which time the image either turns to snow or blanks out. All I can say is good luck! No one will be able to predict those intervals... they are always changing. This time I agree with Bobby... and if the pirates knew about this they wouldn't ever bother. Regarding the VPF deals themselves... What it's going to amount to is an exhibitor putting down X amount per system and the studios picking the rest up over time. No way are the studios going to foot the entire bill... nor are they ever going to do anything totally in your favor. The fact that they ARE WILLING to do direct VPF at all is in itself a miracle. If 5 or 6 studios all pay the VPFs over 7 or 10 years thats enough time to pay off most systems sans the theater's down payment. Personally, any attorney that would advise a client not to take free money is off his rocker. Any sane attorney would gladly accept free payments. Required updates that may have to be done will be very seldom required if ever and generally no more expensive than it was converting from analog to digital sound!! Mark  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.