...against players and play software able to jump directly to a particular title set? From what I understand, since standard DVD player hardware can use this system, it implies that the "premium" content is not encrypted on the fly beyond the DVD-standard CSS system. Which means it wouldn't be difficult to extract the premium content with tools already available to the adventurous. I have to ask if these people took the ease of DVD piracy into consideration.

Or maybe it was something similar. It was a freebie in a shop somewhere anyway.

Imagine my surprise when VLC played it without any hassle, apparently it only protects the content if you play it on a DVD player and not if your player application plays the tracks directly.

stolen credit card + stolen mobile (or payg sim) + disk copier = pwned

I've seen such a system in use and although it secures the content on a dvd player you can easily bypass that secuity on a pc without anything fancy.

can Jacqui Smith claim it on her MP's expenses

Why bother with the fake numbers and prepaid cards? Existing software can get the premium content out without any need for that (and this is provable because of the DVD Video standard--no additional encryption allowed).

If you wish for a demonstration, just look for the coat with an Eee in one pocket and a USB DVD drive in the other.

One of the few patents that actually deserve to be granted.

It might not actually work in the real world, but it's a really elegant solution.

This runs on regular hardware? There's a reason this hasn't been done before: It'll be cracked within about five minutes of release.

So they've managed to code some license system that runs within the standard DVD VTS (how, I do not know), this will be very easy to reverse engineer (if it's even possible) so you'll see keygens popping up online quite quickly.

As another commenter also mentioned, there's no way they've been able to encrypt the content, so you can just watch it on a computer anyway.

There's a reason a lot of time and money has been spent on developing hardware DRM, you just can't secure the standard setup in the way the distributors want.

In the end though, most non-techie people will purchase these things legitimately, and it is a great idea, so bring it on.

Bye bye, next useless DRM please.

Not DivX, DIVX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express)

A pay-per-view DVD system that required special players whereby you paid to 'unlock' the disc for 48 hours.

Why would someone want to resurrect a 10 year old system/idea that failed miserably?

This type of lock will only last until someone gets too annoyed with shelling out extra cash to pay for the "premium" content. Then you will see the emergence of work-arounds to bypass the lock. When someone builds a better lock, it just takes a better lockpick to open it. "All this has happened before and will happen again..."

This may work fine until someone passes around unlock codes created/purchased using stolen credit card numbers.

"In the US they will use credit card numbers..."

Have any of these guys ever been to the US?

You go in to any grocery store and for $10 you can buy a credit card.

You then use this to pay for the unlock code and put the two values on the web - job done.

Phone numbers are that easy too.

Haven't these people got a single brain cell between them?

How does it know who's using the phone?

Paris - because. Just because.

I have seen one of these dvd's before, and by selecting the correct track number from the remote, you can jump straight to the content without entering the password?

dont see the point in it personally!!!

All the evils of DVD protection go away if you rip it with one of the many free rippers and burn a copy.

because these companies touting this new 'protection' racket don't seem to realise that the user has access to the physical content, i.e. the disc.

As others have said anyone with slightly more understanding than the average pc user will be able to copy the disc and extract chapters and so forth.

Another copy protection system pwned methinks!

Trying to crack a good cryptographic hash function is so far beyond an exercise in futility I wouldn't know where to start pointing out what a hopeless idea this would be.

But as everyone else has pointed out, if the system doesn't need special hardware then it is inherently useless anyway.

I assume this will use the DVD VM command set to process the unlock code and allow access to the content via the menu. The content itself can only be CSS protected and will be easily ripped.

This is just security by obscurity, similar to that used by a certain Freeview based soft pr0n channel. If you known the correct PIDs and your STB / application allows you to enter them manually, then its free to view.

Not that its worth watching anyway, let alone paying for.

Didnt they recently die a horrible death?

Heres hoping lightning strikes twice!

"The real question is if punters actually want DVDs with additional, premium, content on them."

No, never, never, not ever.

"Technically the solution is one of the more elegant attempts to improve the DVD business."

Bollocks, its an attempt to wring more money out of Joe Public

And a Freudian slip....

"purveyors of porn titles where the access to premium content has apparently gone down well"

Paris, she goes down well

Being in the DVD replication business I can vouch that this technology actually works and does indeed generate additional revenues – several of my customers use this already. It is true that that there are other locking pin mechanisms out their although it seems to us that DVDPay is the best currently available. Frankly the time and sheer technical effort it would take to get around the DVDPay system doesn’t warrant it as I’m sure you could download the content from a bit torrent site and the fact that this has been proven within the piracy prone niche DVD arena speaks volumes. I know that as this is scaled out across more mainstream DVD applications it will bring real benefits to both the employing content providers and us consumers. For a couple of pounds to watch some good film content is it worth trying to get round it?

Surely we should applaud real commitment and innovation during these economic times, especially as they’re a UK company and this looks like it could be used globally.

Er, "give away with sunday papers"... "went down well with the porn industry".

So we can 'look forward' to porn DVDs dropping out of the sunday supplement, carefully locked down so that the "call now" banner flashes up just as she's undoing his trousers or something?

And its completely unlikely that teenagers will be more than happy to "share" their parents' phone numbers so they can 'enjoy the premium content' as the actress said to the bishop?

Riiiiight.... I can already see my teenage sons hanging around in the hall waiting for the paper to arrive....