A Chip on DVDs Could Prevent Theft

Dieppe writes "A simple chip added to a DVD disk could prevent retail theft. According to the AP article at MSNBC, the chip would be activated at the register to make a previously dark area of the DVD clear, and therefore readable. Could this help to stem the tide of the approximate $400 million dollars in losses from brick and mortar stores? Game console DVDs could also be protected this way too. Could this help to bring the prices down on DVD games and movies?"

right idea, wrong direction

[Catcher80]

Well, there is a great idea in here somewhere. "A chip smaller than the head of a pin is placed onto a DVD along with a thin coating that blocks a DVD player from reading critical information on the disc. At the register, the chip is activated and sends an electrical pulse through the coating, turning it clear and making the disc playable." Wow.

How long do you think it will take for these "DVD Decryption" devices, as it were, to hit the black market and for plans to be readily available on the internet?

How about, a security device hidden on the DVD itself that will ALWAYS make the security device go off (electrical tape be damned) unless it's rung up at the register first? That would sound like a useful application to me. Come on... people will stop stealing just because they can't watch it? The basic principle of stealing/hacking/whatever is first and foremost "do it to see if you can" right? I can't imagine the inordinate amount of people who will laugh their asses off after stealing this worthless media content, if for no other reason just to piss off Wal*Mart or whoever. It's fun sticking it to the proverbial man.

Another point, how many of you have bought a DVD or other related product, and gotten the hidden security device on it deactivated at the register, just to have to door alarm beep at you and you have to pull out your receipt to verify your purchase? How many people are going to make it out the door and to their homes, to discover their DVD wasn't REALLY activated at the register, before they figure out it's a bad idea? You think Wal*Mart is going to believe you when you come back in and say "Yes I bought this, no it wasn't activated for some reason" ? NO NO NO NO NO.

There ARE some useful applications for this technology, oh yes, there are; however, I really think this one is quirky. Come on Corporate America.

Re:What Would the Russians Do?

[ajlitt]

That anecdote is false. [snopes.com]

Re:Sorta cool

[networkBoy]

Mine did.
When I contacted Disney about a replacement disk at cost (not retail) I was told "tough shit". When I pointed out that had they not used rip-guard and other countermeasures to me making a backup, and as such I expected them to make a good faith effort to replace my damaged disk, they said "tough shit, buy a new one". When I pointed out that the disk was over a year old and out of production, they said "tough shit, try e-bay". So I did and I found a really inexpensive (Chinese "overrun") authentic disk.
See if I buy Disney media anything ever again, it's off to TPB and netflix + anydvd + dvd decrypter.

Back onto the topic at hand, TFA mentions that this tech is applicable to other products as well, I wonder how soon till the regularly missed activation gets consumers pissed about coming back, and gets the customer service reps numb to the issue, such that freshly pilfered merchandise can be activated at the customer service desk rather than the register?

One of my mates worked at Office Depot. Someone stole a display computer, walked it over to the service desk, made up some bogus issue with the ($2000) PC, balked at the estimate, and carried "their" PC out the door, with the staff holding the door for them!
Same thing will happen with this tech.
-nB

Re:History Says: Prices will go Up.

[shmlco]

When CDs came out about two decades ago they were, what, $25-$30 at first? Now, after two decades of inflation, you can buy most of 'em at WalMart for $12-$16.

The price did come down. The price stayed down when the price of nearly everything else doubled or tripled.

Stop whinning.

Re:"A Chip on DVDs Could Prevent Theft"

[Opportunist]

how could this possibly inconvenience paying customers

By not working. Never had a DVD that didn't play in your DVD player, despite the claims of the manufacturer that "every DVD player can read their copy protection"? Never had a game not work because some shoddy copy protection mechanism wasn't compatible with your CD/DVD-ROM drive?

Re:How is this any better

[jimicus]

In the UK, you walk out with the box you picked up off the shelf. There is a 1:1 relationship between "number of boxes on the shelf" and "number of discs behind the counter". (In theory. In practise there's sometimes a bargain bin which contains blank cases with a handwritten label - presumably some idiot stole the original box).

Sometimes there are runners to get the disc itself out from a drawer behind the counter, but as often as not the clerk behind the register just turns around and leafs through the drawer to find the disc.

This works OK in the UK, where most people don't mind queuing up. No idea how well it would transfer to New York.

Re:"A Chip on DVDs Could Prevent Theft"

[packeteer]

This whole idea is a misunderstanding of basic economics. The price of anything is based on the maximum price the seller can sell it for while maximizing the number of items sold. Basically, the cost of producing goods has nothing to do with what they are sold for. You first determine the most money you can make by selling an item, then you decide if the profit margin is thick enough for you. If you determine that people wont pay enough to make up the cost of the item you don't sell it. If you find out they will pay what it costs and then some you will almost certainly sell it.

It's that simple. Theft and fraud do not bring the price of goods up. When shopping carts are stolen from the supermarket it does not raise the cost of food. If they could have possibly raised the price before they would have already done it. Theft cuts into profits but it absolutely does not raise the price for the consumer.

10 years later...

[edbob]

This idea has already been tried. Although it did not involve a chip on the disk, DIVX (the original movie rental scheme from Circuit City, not the codec) did allow all of the features of the "business model" you have listed. Studios loved the idea. Consumers did not. The whole system went up in smoke after about a year. In order for a new business model to be successful, it has to be accepted by customers. As far as I know, DIVX has yet to be cracked.

DIVX failed.

[tepples]

limits on how often you can play the DVD. Pretty trivial: the chip also contains a counter, and when that limit is reached, it can no longer be activated. In the video market it actually has actually a legitimate use: mail-order rentals where you don't actually have to bring it back.

Circuit City's DIVX used a similar business model. It failed.