steelman1991
Well-known member
Hi folks
I have become involved in a discussion on another forum regarding the continued access to titles downloaded to an "Encore" system in the hypothetical event that K closes it's doors. This seems to come up on various threads as a "reason not to purchase" and is by and large peddled by those who seem to have an "axe" to grind with K for whatever reason and there appear to be a few out there.
Anyway, I was under the impression that should this happen, then titles would continue to be available and had no requirement to have any contact with K servers. Playback would continue and the only issue that would be of concern would be the failure of hardware and the existence of support to those affected. See below for the comments posted. Perhaps someone from K @MikeKobb or @J.Green could clarify the position.
I have become involved in a discussion on another forum regarding the continued access to titles downloaded to an "Encore" system in the hypothetical event that K closes it's doors. This seems to come up on various threads as a "reason not to purchase" and is by and large peddled by those who seem to have an "axe" to grind with K for whatever reason and there appear to be a few out there.
Anyway, I was under the impression that should this happen, then titles would continue to be available and had no requirement to have any contact with K servers. Playback would continue and the only issue that would be of concern would be the failure of hardware and the existence of support to those affected. See below for the comments posted. Perhaps someone from K @MikeKobb or @J.Green could clarify the position.
According to K-Scape, yes it does. The downloaded files need copy key access to the home server at least once in a while. If their servers go dark due to them having to fold shop, the keys won't be accessible for authentication. Therefore the files cannot be played. It may be a staggered event, but would happen to all titles stored in your hardware eventually.
They said something about maybe being able to get a studio, based on your downloaded titles, to give you access to Movies Anywhere or the like for lesser quality streaming equivalents compared to what you paid for at K-Scape, but it sounded like more of an aspiration than an iron-clad promise.
This was at the last CEDIA in Denver.
I wouldn't put money down in Vegas.
The DRM copy protection/anti-piracy "feature" was added as a condition for Kaleidascape to continue to do business with certain studios. This was when they almost went under a few years back.
I pressed them on this at CEDIA giving them a scenario of what would happen to customers and their hardware and collections if they ever went under.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news twice in one day.
The original model was that you could place your already purchased Blu-ray discs into the supplied player and the files could authenticate every so often using the disc's built-in keys. It showed that you at least owned some licensed product and that was okay for certain studios. That got to be cumbersome with their newer download store system if certain clients didn't have the discs already. Then the keys shifted to the web based approach. No keys when called for and the digital copy would not play.