The DVD War Against Consumers

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Soon, we'll also want to take the movies that we paid for with us on small multimedia players like video iPods.

OTHER ANSWERS.

I support the rights of the studios to protect their content right up until it stops me from doing something reasonable that I want to do. Blu-ray crosses this line.

So should the studios just roll over and close their doors? I have some suggestions for them:

• Find a new pricing model. There's an iTunes for movies out there somewhere.

• Fuggetaboutit. It's true that lots of people download movies off the Internet or buy bootleg copies, but how many adults will sit in front of a computer screen and watch a pixilated movie or be content to watch a DVD where someone's head keeps blocking the camera every few minutes? The kids who download movies off the Net can't afford to buy a real copy anyway. Stopping them from downloading and watching a movie doesn't translate into an extra sale.

• Go through the motions. Build a minimal DRM, enough to deter people from casual copying. Then, grit your teeth and bear it.

CHOOSING CHOICE.

Part of the profit on movies comes from secondary-channel sales. The days when the studios made all of their money from the box office are long over. Now, they show movies on cable, on pay-per-view, in hotels, and on airplanes. There are too many places for the content to get out. The more the studios widen their channels to distribute their product, the more opportunities there will be for someone to steal a copy. Plus, the move to digital distribution of movies in theaters means that there's a much better chance of someone snarfing a nice, clean, digital copy.

What should consumers do? Well, I'm a gadget freak but I'm not going to rush out and buy one of the first players available. When I do, given a choice between Blu-ray and a less-restrictive DRM format, I'll go with the latter, all other things being equal. As to the DRM stuff, if you need to copy a DVD for a legitimate purpose and the protection scheme won't let you and someone posts a hack on the Net, well...you have a choice to make.

Holtzman, who blogs at Globalpov.com, is the author of Privacy Lost and founder and chief technology officer of pseuds Inc. He writes frequently on technology and privacy at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/.