Moth3r said:lordjedi said:-region coding...
This is a problem with DVD as well, so it's nothing new.
... but it was easily multi-region hackable by entering a code on the remote. I haven't seen any BD players that have this feature yet.
That depends on the player you have. Cheaper players, even today, are not always hackable. I'm sure once the Chinese are able to start making BD players, we'll get region free players.
lordjedi said:- and of course the crazy DRM schemes (which have been broken), but
Well, it's been broken, so the DRM is almost irrelevant, just like it is on DVDs these days. The software that's available today makes it pretty easy too.
No, this is incorrect. Once CSS was broken, that was the end of DRM as far as DVD was concerned. OK so there are newer protection schemes found on recent DVDs, but these are based on the premise of corrupting the DVD structure to confuse the ripper rather than encryption. There are several free programs that can easily deal with these discs.
And almost all of them have to be updated constantly. Underworld: Evolution is one DVD that not only caused problems for rippers, it caused problems on cheaper players. Right at the end, it would lock up the player everytime at the exact same spot. I don't know what the fix was (aside from ripping it and burning it to a new DVD), but it was a Sony DVD, so I just won't buy it.
Compare the situation with BD - yes AACS has been broken, but BD+ has taken DRM to a whole new level. There is no free software that can handle this protection, and Slysoft's AnyDVD HD - the only software capable of decrypting these discs - needs to be constantly updated to deal with new releases.
Yes, because it's completely impossible to get a "free" version of AnyDVD HD :P. And even if you didn't want to go the "free" route, it's only $80 US dollars to buy the program. $80 and your entire Blu-ray collection is freed from the shackles of DRM. I may not like the DRM on Blu-ray, but between dealing with it or using an $80 program to remove it, I'll use the program. As Blu-ray adoption continues, eventually we'll see a free program.
It seems that people with standalone players are having trouble with new Blu-ray releases as well. That is if the AnyDVD HD forums on slysoft are anything to go by. So not only does AnyDVD HD have to be updated constantly, but so does the firmware on standalone players. Yay for heavily DRMed media!