Hello there,
I understand your point that for some videographers it works for them to charge more for their time and charge less for the results, but that is not a universal business model that works for all due to market forces such as competition and competitive rates in their area of operation.
Re: viruses vs. apples, the context of that statement was intended to demonstrate the point that even though we cannot stop something, it does not preclude the desire or benefit of trying to.
Re: CSS... I won't say EVERY rip program out there is a DeCSS Ripper, because you can never say never, but basically just about every ripper out there is a DeCSS ripper, and my experience has been that CSS is only one step above having no protection, even though they may be tweaking it regularly. It is old technology, and hasn't gone any kind of 'major' revamp to thwart new methods of circumvention in who only knows how long.
LOL... I do have to agree with you about the honesty part though, can't really straighten a crooked arrow, but for some it is easier for them to flex than others.
The main issue surrounding this issue of honesty is two-fold, the first is a sense of entitlement that has been fostered in the mind of the consumer (understandably) that if they buy something they should be able to make a backup of it in case something happens to the original. Perfectly understandable and I agree with that. The problem is that that justification for duplicating a disk has been exploited by those who have no regard for the intellectual copyright and investment of the producer and either seek to profit from the illeal duplication of copyrighted material, or simply think they are taking a stab at the establishment. The few make it bad for the many.
The second issue is that the consumer has been so desensitized to the subsequent ill-effects on the industry and producer of this kind of activity that it has become second nature to them to easily justify this in their mind.
Case in Point, April Issue of EventDV Magazine, Article on Producing Cheerleading Competition Videos profiling 3 Videographers (
http://www.eventdv.net/Articles/Read...rticleID=12661)... and I quote "Anderson (one of the three videographers profiled) reported that he has heard parents, right at his table, say they will buy one DVD and make copies for other parents. " They simply no longer seem to appreciate that just because you CAN copy a DVD, doesn't automatically give you the right to.
Therefore producers like yourself are FORCED to compensate in other ways, such as selling your finished product at a price you may feel is below its reasonable value for the time and energy put into creating it, all in attempt to counteract this activity on the part of the consumer.
Therefore my belief in providing copy protection stems from the fact that the harder you make it to circumvent applied copy protection, the less bend you allow in the arrow. The arrow can still be bent or broken, and always will be, but it more readily becomes a deterrent, which is always preferrable to the alternative in my mind, simply giving up and saying 'Oh well, they win."
As for my involvement, my company has been a Disc Manufacturer and Macrovision Facility for years. But prior to that, I spent many years in educational multimedia producing intructional video content and applications for K-12, and for the time, money and energy put into creating that content, still feel that my original works have every right to be protected, just as books, patents and trademarks are.
Copy Protecting Recordable DVDs so they can't be ripped off? 
Linear Mode
