This is another classic case where the industry is punishing their legit customers and not the ones who copy and download the media. It’s the same case with copy protections and DRM. The only ones who have to cope with those things are the customers who purchase the products, never heard of any copy protections or DRM in movies, games or music that were available in P2P networks.

The commenters at Boing-Boing write about 3-6 random sound drops for a few seconds. Now that would really make me angry and I would definitely ask for a refund on my way out. What’s their next ingenious move, blank out a few scenes ? The cinemas themselves do not seem to have a say in the matter.

I would bet that the movie that is available on P2P networks does not have those sound gaps. Wanna bet ?

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Two studios, Paramount and Universal are still backing up HD DVD and press releases suggest that they have no intention to change their stance in the near future. Movie fans are still facing the problem that a choice can’t be made if they wanted to watch movies from all studios unless they would purchase a more expensive dual player that would play Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies.

Many Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies are currently offered at Amazon for 50% off and player prices have been reduced as well. You can purchase a HD DVD player for $149.99 and get five HD DVDs free as a bonus which is an attractive offer.

My stance on this matter remains unchanged. I will boycott both formats and won’t purchase a remaining format as well if there should be a winning format in the near future. I do so mainly because of DRM and all the crap that is loaded into those players. I also have no intention to update my player’s firmware regularly because the manufacturer published a new firmware to fix some security holes.

That’s not what I want and I’m pretty confident that this is something that most consumers do not want as well – if they would know that is.

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The situation is currently the following: Paramount and Universal will publish their movies exclusively on HD-DVD while Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM publish theirs exclusively on Blue-Ray. Time Warner seems to be the only movie company that is producing movies for both HD formats.

While the companies are battling for the one true format consumers are confused and left with choices that they can’t make at the moment. No one wants to pay hundreds of dollars for a HD player if that player will be obsolete in a few years. Remember the Beta / VHS fiasco back then ?

The best choice at the moment is to wait in my opinion and buy the movies on DVD which is the only format that will see all movie releases from all companies. If you already made a purchase you can enjoy some of the movies in HD but will have to rely on DVDs to be able to watch the other movies.

I’m really happy that I do not have an HD television yet and no desire to buy an Xbox 360 with HD drive or a PS3 with Blue-Ray in the near future. I have all the time in the world to wait and see how this war continues. Will it be decided by money or by the choice of the consumers ?

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