I hope when this new technologie hits, author of great tools like DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter will still be able to break those new security features.
The antipiracy technology, known as the secure video processor (SVP) platform, will be designed for media companies to protect their content from unauthorized copying and redistribution.
An increase in piracy has accompanied the exploding popularity of digital video players. Crafty programmers have discovered ways to crack into DVD players, for example, to make copies of Hollywood movies quickly and cheaply.
The new technology will be designed to allow media companies to encrypt their content with their own digital rights management (DRM) specifications and have the code unscrambled for viewing solely by devices embedded with SVP-enabled chips.
The companies hope that enough SVP-enabled video playback devices and TV set-top boxes will hit the market in coming years so as to allow consumers to transport the encrypted content to specially equipped SVP devices for playback.
NDS, 78 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., has developed the antipiracy software component for SVP. Beginning next year, Thomson will embed SVP-enabled chips developed by STMicro into its video playback devices and set-top boxes.
American satellite TV operator DirecTV, a News Corp. affiliate, is the first to use the new technology, the companies said.
The SVP alliance was introduced in Amsterdam on Friday at a broadcasters conference.
