PIRATE DVD DEMO ON TV PUZZLES INDUSTRY
Purported pirate DVD of Disney movie whose picture vanished after few plays was demonstrated by British official on popular TV show there last week -- but as of Wed. neither official, show’s producers nor studio could shed any light on disappearing act that might have been staged and mistaken.
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Broadcast dealing with bogus DVDs appeared on Big Breakfast morning show from U.K. independent commercial station Channel 4. Tony Northcote, London area Trading Standards Officer, showed pirate videos and asked viewers not to buy them. One purported to be pirate DVD Disney movie Monsters, Inc., still making rounds of theaters. Northcote warned against buying it, saying “although the quality is good when you get it home, the film is encrypted and it starts to fade after a few days.”
Northcote repeated assertion several times in different ways while program showed demonstration clip. Big Breakfast used split screen in which one half displayed good quality, while other half began with good color then gradually faded to b&w. Although materials technology that could achieve that effect has been proposed for digital rights management on optical discs, it’s not known to be in use -- and isn’t likely to be implemented on pirated discs.
After repeated requests for comment, Northcote returned our calls Mon. and tried to pass buck on demonstration. He told us he knew nothing of system, had never seen effect before but was speaking on basis of “information supplied by the Anti- Counterfeiting Group” (ACG) about “new developments coming within the industry.” He confirmed he didn’t know what those developments were and claimed demonstration was prepared by show’s producers, saying he “assumed they bought the disc.” ACG is multi-industry umbrella group dealing with piracy issues and includes fashion and music industries. U.K.’s Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), which polices software piracy, is member of loose coalition.
Representatives of Big Breakfast show have been mum to date on background and production of demonstration, which was obvious time-lapse simulation. Cat Halsby, spokeswoman for show, said she hadn’t seen original broadcast and, as of Wed., hadn’t seen copy. Show’s reticence might change soon. Question of demonstration’s legitimacy is under review by Independent TV Commission (ITC), British body that controls TV standards and investigates complaints. ITC confirmed to us that it was considering investigation whether viewers were misled by program. Cash fine is possible if Channel 4 erred.
Meanwhile, Disney representatives remained puzzled over situation. Debbie Harvey, spokeswoman for Buena Vista Home Entertainment in U.K., saw copy of broadcast item and told us “Monsters is not released on video, so the clip I saw from Monsters would have come from Buena Vista International, which handles theatrical release.” Mary Rose, spokeswoman for Buena Vista International, first said she had heard nothing about the broadcast demonstration. Upon follow-up, she said: “We have not been involved in the Big Breakfast piece. You will have to ask Big Breakfast about it.” Spokeswoman didn’t seem concerned that Disney content might have been aired without permission, whether pirated or legitimate.
Meanwhile, FACT confirmed it had been fielding questions on show and pirate disc from industry, said it had no role in show and had distanced itself from issue. “We are disappointed that this red herring has been raised because it clouds the real issue, which is that people are being ripped off by poor quality product,” FACT Dir. David Lowe said. “A better example for them to give would have been The Lord of the Rings, where the pirate discs are actually the cartoon version,” he told us (see separate report, this issue).
Technology that could cause content on discs to deteriorate deliberately over predetermined period of time was demonstrated at replicators’ show in Hong Kong 4 years ago. Nederald, Colo.- based Hide and Seek Technologies showed photosensitive polymer coating that could be applied to optical discs. Coating would darken progressively when exposed to light from laser pickups, becoming opaque over time and making disc unreadable. Polymer mix could be tuned in manner to achieve different goals, such as number of plays permitted or amount of time that playback was possible, including single play for promotionally priced discs. Coating also could be used to tie disc to playback on single device and spoil any copies made.