Ghostbusters Is First Film Released On USB Key

arcticstoat writes "Are you the USB keymaster? You could be soon if you pick up PNY's new 2GB USB flashdrive, which comes pre-loaded with Ghostbusters. A spokesperson for PNY explained that it comes with a form of DRM that prevents you from copying the movie. 'They have DRM protection,' explained the spokesperson, 'so customers can download the movie onto their laptop or PC if they wish, but they have to have the USB drive plugged in to watch the movie, as the DRM is locked in the USB drive.' The music industry has been playing around with USB flash drives for a few years now, but it hasn't been a massive success yet; will USB movies fare any better?"

countdown

Waiting to hear news that the movie's been unlocked in 3... 2... 1...

Re:countdown

You're late to the scene, they had it cracked at 4

Re:countdown

Agreed. There is no chance this DRM will work. My question is what are they afraid of? Ghostbusters has been on the pirate bay since at least 2005. I'm sure it was on Limewire and Kazaa before that. If they are testing to see if this DRM will work, they already know the answer. It works OK for the non-technical folk, and has no chance in hell for the people who would actually want to buy a movie on USB stick (if it didn't have DRM, at least). This just seems like one of the most useless ideas Hollywood has had.

Re:countdown

This just seems like one of the most useless ideas Hollywood has had.

Hollywood made "Battlefield: Earth." This isn't even in the top ten, sorry buddy.

Re:countdown

They're more interested in proving the principle of the thing than protecting this particular film. If it gets ripped, Hollywood isn't going to be as upset as they would be if, say, Quantum of Solace were ripped. If it doesn't get ripped, well, distributing Return of the Revenge of Batman in 2012 on a 32Gb SD card isn't going to seem so crazy.

The idea of tying digital copies to a particular storage device isn't new, and several parties have been trying to persuade Hollywood that this idea works for a while. HD DVD supported something called CPRM, where each writable disk could have embedded upon it, in an unwritable part of the disk, a key that copies could be tied to. The idea was that you'd (or a kiosk would) be able to download and burn to a disk an official, authorized, copy of a movie, that would be just as uncopyable as a regular AACS-controlled disk. This was an extension of attempts by the DVD Forum to make CPRM work with regular DVDs for some years, which looks set to be a part of the next revision of the DVD standard. You can imagine how attractive this is to studios who do not want to put hundreds of thousands of copies of low-interest content in stores around the world.

Likewise, the "SD" in "SD card" is about a similar system, and initially that was the major difference between SD cards and MMC cards, though the two standards have grown apart since in other ways.

Whether this is good or bad depends on your point of view to a certain extent, but what is clear is that Hollywood isn't planning on abandoning DRM any time soon. As a result, they're not going to adopt any form of writable media to store digital copies unless it has some kind of DRM system built-in. This is a step towards that goal.

Re:countdown

OK, so NO ONE crack it or rip it until it becomes standard.
Shhh, keep this on the down low.

I unlocked the DRM!!!

Apparently if it asks you if you're a god, you say YES!

Re:I unlocked the DRM!!!

Odd, I got mine Jeopardy-style: "During the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose this form for Gozer the Traveler."

No thanks, I like to own media and do what I want

Can't rip it, can't archive it, can't move it to my HDD without the dongle. And if the flash drive gets damaged, who you gonna call?

Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa

Can't rip it, can't archive it, can't move it to my HDD without the dongle. And if the flash drive gets damaged, who you gonna call?

The pirate bay.

Re:No thanks, I like to own media and do what I wa

Can't put it on a portable media player, either. What's the point of digital media you can't take on the go?

Denied

A spokesperson for PNY explained that it comes with a form of DRM that prevents you from copying the movie.

Aw. That's adorable.

"Go ahead and steal it", says spokesman

You probably can't even get Ghostbusters down at your local "Three DVDs for $20" guy on the corner; his stock is all newer. Everybody who wants this movie already has it. I can't even imagine who they expect to sell it to, except as a novelty.

Presumably they're keeping an eye on how long it will take for the DRM to be broken. People will break it for the challenge and because they hate DRM, but it's like stealing cockroaches from my kitchen: you're welcome to it.

Some advice for users:

• Those watching on HURD must NOT cross the STREAMS
• BSD users should try to avoid summoning Daemons
• This video contains excellent girl-getting advice for those Slashdot readers who collect spores, moulds and fungi
• Windows users are advised to scan for indications of rootkits, goddesses and crazed dogs

Re:Some advice for users:

Windows would have been fine if dickless here hadn't shut off the main power grid.

Re:terrible idea

and let me guess, requires windows visa with the latest service pack (DRM++)

Re:terrible idea

Well apparently it works on Linux as well (As long as it has the right KERNAL)

From Argos.co.uk.

2GB storage.
Plug and play.
Compatible with Windows ME, 2008, XP, Mac OS, 8.6 and Higher, Linux, Kernal 2.4X and any operating system with a USB port.
Compatible with USB 1.1 and 2.0.
Size (H)2 (W)6.3 (D) 0.8cm.
Black USB pendrive.
Full length movie and link to argos website included.
Full installation guide included.

Although I guess that is wrong for the DRM stuff.

Tom...

Re:terrible idea

That can be easily fixed.

Get a 4 gig usb key instead, a DVD of ghostbusters and a copy of handbrake. (you will want to rip with settings that give you about 3.2gig because the film was created on very low grade film it cant be compressed hard without artifacts.)

rip the dvd to a OPEN unencumbered codec. place on USB key.

Voila. same thing in BETTER quality without the DRM and is compatible with most computers.

hey hollywood, until you offer me something that is NOT DRM encumbered I aint' buyin' it! I'll violate your copyright instead...

Re:terrible idea

I would rather use the device and medium of my choosing without dongles.

Re:terrible idea

What would you do if your girlfriend came up to you with that preference?

Ask to watch.

Re:Betamax vs. VHS

Blue Ray won't "win" the format wars until they sell more than standard def DVDs

USB scratch remover

I can sell you a can of high tech USB scratch remover. For only $19.99, this spray will remove scratches, improve picture quality and cure your herpes, but wait, now for a limited time offer you can get TWO cans for only $39.99...

Re:One positive

I've actually had USB drives survive the washer-and-dryer bit. Not that I'd recommend it, but it's not necessarily fatal.

Re:correction

The industry is looking to set a record on longest lived DRM scheme. Everyone has this already, so no one will need to crack it, and a presentation will go to a CEO somewhere about this new scheme that has not been broken in over a week.

Re:DRM? laughable

vlc -I dummy "E:\Ghostbusters.avi" :sout='#transcode{vcodec=mp2v,vb=4096,acodec=mp2a,ab=192,scale=1,channels=2,deinterlace,audio-sync}:std{access=file, mux=ps,url="C:\Ghostbusters.ps.mpg"}'

And this is why Windows is fine for nerds and hobbyists, but not ready for the mainstream desktop.