Movies on the Net - Updated

Note: this complex subject is not meant as a technical treatise. The style and terminology are an attempt to make a complex subject understandable to non-technical I-netters. Those readers who find the explanation too elementary, please stop reading and use the Internet for a much more rigorous treatment.

The suits in Hollywood face an immense problem. Frankly, they get paid “the big bucks” and they will earn it if they can solve the looming crisis. Here is the story.

Displaying graphics in motion (usually called movies) with a sound track on a computer screen requires mountains of data, a strong computer (PII microprocessor or better), and a quality sound card. Many people who use the Internet have this type of equipment. Many more will purchase robust computer systems in the weeks and months ahead. Presently, in order to view a movie in your home, you may buy or rent a film on VHS tape (or receive it via cable/Satellite access) and play it on a VHS player/recorder using a television set as the viewer. Alternately, DVD players have become available allowing the purchase or rental of movies recorded on high density CD ROM-like platters. With a DVD device in a computer, the film can be viewed on a PC.

Since computers (specifically PCs) understand binary (ones and zeros), a standard movie must be digitized. The movie installed on the DVD platter underwent this process. Keep in mind, once data (like a movie) is digitized, it can be transmitted over the Internet, often for free or very low cost.

What Prevents Theft?

All data is automatically copyrighted when it goes on the Internet. However, this has proven to be a weak deterrent for theft of intellectual property thus far in the Net’s history. Right now, thousands of people are transferring copyrighted music over the Internet with Napster (and other software) with little fear of arrest or penalty. In the case of full-length films, however, the film industry has a few additional safeguards against free distribution via the Internet. First, all movies digitized to DVD go through an encryption process. Before the movie can be viewed, the hardware must “decrypt” the file prior to viewing. Also, the sheer size of a movie file makes it difficult to transfer it through the routers of cyberspace. Internet transfer would be like shoving an elephant through a garden hose. Not very practical.

Things Have Changed

In the fast paced cyberworld (fueled in large measure by the free exchange of ideas across international borders), both safeguards have recently come under severe attack. First, elephantine data files, through the use of sophisticated compression schemes, have been reduced to the size of a sock puppet. While suffering some loss of quality (picture and sound), the overall fidelity remains astoundingly high. Next, the encryption lock was picked (cracked) in France and the inner workings posted on the Internet for the whole world to view. Does this mean that any movie (on DVD) can be cracked, converted to a binary file, stored on a server and downloaded to any PC and viewed? The simple answer is: YES.

Not So Fast

Before you rush out and try this, there are several other significant barriers in your path. First, the movie industry is not exactly asleep. Facing the loss of billions of investment dollars (and of course future profits), they actively scan the Net gossip areas for signs of Web sites containing pirated movies. When found, they come down with the full force of the law. However, not all countries recognize US copyright laws. This leads to sleepless nights in Tinseltown. Currently, the size of full-length films (even after aggressive compression) means most movies require overnight transfers even with broadband (xDSL, I-cable, and other) connections. Typically, a 90 minute movie can be stored on an inexpensive conventional CD ROM (660 MB capacity). However, even with high-speed gear, transferring 660MB over the Net presents a non-trivial problem. Nevertheless, every day, more and more people have the capability to receive (or transmit) these files. Today’s tricked out PCs (500+ mHz processors, cache galore, high-end sound cards) are tomorrow’s $990 standard offering from Dell or Gateway. Morphed Napster-esque tools (they carry gnutella monikers) threaten to create a situation where high volume transfers can neither be easily traced nor blocked. Welcome to the enforcement nightmare of the New Internet.

Is There A Solution?

The questions stir raging debate in some corners of the Internet. Can copyright laws be effectively enforced? Is censorship the answer? Should cracking tool ownership be evidence of guilt? These are some of the many questions being asked. From my limited vantage point, I see a changing Internet landscape with less and less central control. This will make enforcement of US copyright laws much more difficult as we move toward broader bandwidth for everyone. It seems to me that the movie industry needs to come to grips with the prospect of selling full length movies on inexpensive CDs at a retail price of say $5. At this price point, Internetters find it cheaper to buy a movie than go through the expense/hassle of swapping large files over the Internet or downloading from a server farm in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Embedded advertising can generate additional revenue. What do you think?

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://divx.ctw.cc/

(This is the 202nd of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the Internet. Next, “Crime Coverage on the Net” is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of “Internet Info for Real People” can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)