DivX plots course to block pirates

Video compression provider DivXNetworks has teamed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics to develop a system to protect digital video and audio from copyright violations.

Under a deal announced Wednesday, the companies said they would work together to create a digital watermark system. Watermarking technology places a unique bit of code into a video or audio file, making the file difficult to copy or play without permission from copyright holders.

Update:

DivX Video on Demand has been introduced by DivX as their digital rights management system that content owners can use to protect their content and distribution channels against unofficial reproduction or copying of their works.

The format has been approved by major Hollywood film studios such as Lionsgate, Sony or Paramount, which in turn allowed content distributors to use the format for their distribution services.

One of the advantages of the format is the ability to play movies on different devices, including PCs, Apple Macintosh computer systems and Blu-Ray, Playstation 3 or DVD-Players that are DivX certified. Devices need to be registered first before they can be used to view contents purchased or rented from partners of the service.

Registration is relatively easy. Users first need to find the DivX device code which usually can be found in the device set up menu. Once they have the code they need to create an account on the official website, and select Register a DivX Certified Device from the options afterwards.

A registration video is then generated that needs to be played on the device to complete the registration process. The video needs to be transferred to the device, for instance by burning it to DVD, copying it on a USB drive or via network access.

Play the video on the device to complete the setup. The device is now registered and can be used to rent and buy movies.

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Author: Martin Brinkmann, Monday October 24, 2005 -
Tags:divx, fraunhofer, mp3