Tuesday, September 22, 2009

We know, we know, we know

19 comments:

kronostar said...

What's even worse is that in addition to the Do not pirate unskippable messages, some DVDs won't even let you skip the previews either. With one DVD series I bought I've now gotten in the habit of putting the DVD in with the TV off and then puttering around making myself comfortable, getting something to eat, etc. for about 5-10 minutes before turning on the TV. I've been VERY tempted to pirate the DVD myself just to avoid the hassle and annoyance.

TC [Girl] said...

My favorite part: "...for fucking fuck's sake!" ROFLMAO!! :-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"now gotten in the habit of putting the DVD in with the TV off and then puttering around"

For some combinations of blu-ray players and discs, that's standard, some take like 7 minutes to get to the actual film.

Aniko said...

A good reason to pirat: the region code. You can change it on your computer a very limited number of times (maybe 5), and then, if it's done, it's fucked up: on your Europen-DVD-reader computer, you will never ever watch a DVD bought in the USA, and visa-versa.

I really wonder why they do that. They had these frequency issue during the cold war, you couldn't watch western TV with your eastern television. But now, to introduce this between the countries... I wonder.

This is only for the legal DVDs. If you have a pirat version, no problems.

So if as a European, I go to the USA, it is not worth buying legal DVDs, i won't be able to watch them. Unless I have one computer for Europe, one far USA. / But then I need another one for Asia...

Anonymous said...

You don't need different computers, just an additional DVD-ROM drive. Label each one for your regions, 1, 2, 4 and use that one for your movie watching. For non-Blu-Ray, multi region players are affordable and perhaps your existing play can be 'hacked' to be 'region-free'.

Ian

Chris S. said...

In many (most?) places it's completely legal to backup your DVD/CD and I think people should do that and while at it remove the annoyances. Then you watch the copy rather than risk the original.

I'd like to know how many people have lost their viewing ability due to damaged/lost discs. And if these companies are actually selling you a license to view the material then why they don't provide a way to maintain your license when damage occurs. Wed never hear about how much extra money they make by re-selling these "rights" when people need to buy them again. After all they say we buy "only a license". I think they'd love to sell time-limited licenses if they could only get away with it and the public in general needs to move their expectations up further to the point where we expect to be able to replace a damaged disc.

Alex said...

I think worse than region coding is having a DVD player that is so stupid it thinks all Region 0 discs are NTSC format!

I applaud the companies who release region 0 disks, especially if they know they will have a limited ex-pat audience. Nettwerk released "The Sweeney" on region 0.

neeraj said...

In Germany it is legal to make a private copy (and BTW for any blank CD and DVD you pay a certain amount especially for this), but it's illegal to hack any copy protection ... now, this is an "impossible" situation!

So, many people use software like DVDFab Platinum or similar in order to get their private copy (and at the same time removing all annoyances). It may be not legally correct, but it feels right.

Aniko said...

What is region 0 ? Does it mean that all the people who legally purchased that DVD have the right to watch it ? Sounds amazing ! :-)

Thanks Ian for the advises. Actually I do have 2 computers at home, so I am ok. It is just the concept that is astounding, and makes me wonder whom does this region-segregation profit.

If the region 0 means region-free DVD, I applaud to it too !

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I got my current DVD player hacked at the local hifi store. I think they did it using just a special remote control.

Alex said...

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks is a pretty complete resource for hacks.

My original Sony, the one that can't play PAL has a hack that I just couldn't make work. It was a sequence on the regular remote.

For my LG portable, I had to burn a bootable disc for the player, this gets into the engineering menu.

For my Audiovox portable it was a sequence on the remote.

Your local electronics guy with a "special remote" probably had a universal remote with the popular hacks pre-programmed.

Region 0 is all region. In the US we are region 1, Europe is region 2, there are a dozen or so regions world wide.

The region coding is mostly for phased releases, or regional pricing, this probably causes more pirating than region free discs. When a film is released in the US then the rest of the world has access to a clean source to make a pirate from. They did experiment with "Sisterhood of the ..." releasing in Asia the same time as the US, hoping to pick up legit sales before everyone had a pirate.

Anonymous said...

That's one way in which tapes were better. At least you could fastforward that stupid FBI warning.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Those countless pirated DVDs you can buy in Lebanon, whether movies or videogames?
ALL are zone-free and relieved from those fucking fuck fucker war-like warnings. And WHAT A MUNTAAK RELIEF!!!
I *have* bought several legal DVDs, essentially on sale. But I'm so fed up with the "FFF's Sakes" that THEY make me less and less inclined to buy more!
How come the outlaws are the only ones that their "thought police" leaves in fucking PEACE? M'jadeeb!...

I'm currently awaiting somebody to bring me my de-zoning hack for the PC's drive. For now, it's set on zone1, the only one that my modded PS2 can't read.
BTW, the PS2's menu (press the Select button) allows you to jump to either one -at your convenience- of the Main Menu or the Disc Menu. And at least one of them is where you'd wish to immediately go.
You can probably also try, on a classic player, jumping to Chapter 1. But I think they all have a Menu button.

Aniko sighed...
"But then I need another one for Asia..."

It would be funny, if it wasn't so true and infuriating.
I say pirating your own DVDs is strictly the citizens reclaiming their basic human right of not being annoyed by intrusive corporations in their own homes.
):-P
And I do think the Capitalist System owes us SOME form of compensation for those bail-out billions they've cost us citizens.

I think region 0 is the same as those DVDs labeled "ALL" in the zone/region logo.

"there are a dozen or so regions world wide."
Actually, I think there are only 6.
Similar to "the rest of the world" for the (stereo)typical American, excess detail isn't really necessary when you "trade culture with savages"...

P.S.: Do you have any idea how obscenely expensive legit DVDs are, over here?
It's quite simple: a Pixar movie that's more than a year old never sees its price drop, because they count on brats buggering their parents into coughing up.
I could tell you of several places in Beirut where you can find the same, region-free, for no more than $2. And for $3, you can get a disc which looks just like a legit one, made with identical quality and image art.
Now ponder that there's a whole international industry making juicy profits with such fantastically low prices. 60 times lower than at Virgin's®...
If the legitimate industry was more reasonable with their margins and felt more user-friendly ("local" merchants are VERY friendly), I'd probably feel a lot more sympathetic for their cause.
Anyway, why would I want to pay more for a DVD than for a Multiplex ticket? I seldom watch a movie more than once, since there are so many good ones to see.

BTW, doesn't the FBI have anything more urgent to do than prosecute grannies and little girls? Remind me, has the drug-related death rate reached zero yet? Or even DECREASED?...
I heard that the opium agriculture and economy in Afghanistan is bigger today than it was under the Taliban regime...

Alex said...

I seldom watch a movie more than once, since there are so many good ones to see.

I wish my standards were that low. I've only got 500 dvd's in my Netflix queue.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Who ever said I had that many awaiting myself?
"There are so many good ones to see" compared to the time I've got for watching movies! That's what you get for neglecting TV watching for a measly decade...
Also, there are many classics I plan to see some day.

Yesterday, I caught up on Judge Dredd, it was on TV. A decent adaptation of the comic... except that in the latter you never, ever saw Dredd's face! :-)
But as for playing your average stubborn meat-head cop, Stallone did a most excellent job. ;-)
Besides, "I am the law" fits in the top timeless movie quotes list, along with "I am your father" and "you talkin' to me?".

Of course, the *most* witnessed quote in movies remains the one which this thread was originally about... :-P

Anonymous said...

Stallone saying "I am the law!" is key to the movie's appeal. It's all so cornball and cheesy and that line fits it perfectly. I have never read the comic. Before the movie came out I had not heard of the comic.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I've read some of the comics. Found them rather good.
They have in part the same spirit as the movie. Your call, Jimbo.
(You don't mind if I familiarly call you Jimbo, do you?)

Anonymous said...

Hey, if I didn't want people to call me Jimbo, I wouldn't sign my posts Jimbo. (No one has ever called me that in real life, though.)

Yesterday I downloaded a few Judge Dredd comics and have read the first one, his first appearance in 2000 AD. It was pretty good. Short, but not bad. And crudely drawn, but that kind of suited it. Comics illustrations these days are too polished anyway.

Alex said...

Guys,

Why didn't you tell me!

There's an audio production of Judge Dredd. So what you say. I'll give you two points of interest

1) Wilfredo Acosta - he was the guy who composed the music for the early 90's (possibly late 80's) Radio 4 version of Dan Dare (from The Eagle).

2) Dirk Maggs - was the producer/director of the Radio 4. Superman Doomsday and Beyond and all the Batman series Knightfall and The Lazarus Syndrome. He also did hte last 3 series of The Hitchhiker Guide.