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DVD CCA appeal "settled"?

So here is a suggestion from someone unencumbered with any knowledge of the applicable laws.

Perhaps K should relocate to Europe or Australia.

As I understand it, in most of Europe - and for that matter, the rest of world outside the US - the fair use legislative environment either expressly permits or does not make illegal the ability for people to make copies of movies etc for their own personal use. Presumably in this environment, Kaleidescape's proposition would be far more simple and attractive to customers - DVD and Blu ray copying would be possible without restriction (apart for the need for this to be personal use only). Disc vaults would be unnecessary. I guess any kit sold in the US might have to have certain copying permissions switched off - but that's the price of living in the land of the free.

In this way, by moving outside the US, Kaleidescape and its customers outside the US, can escape this completely out of line US legislation and its equally crazy legal system.

The studios, surely, cannot object. The actions of the Kaleidescape system are entirely legal in many/most jurisdictions outside the US.

Just a thought. I guess if this really was possible K would have done it by now - but who knows....
 
ps - if K decide to do this (please please please), I will have to send them my (very modest) management consultancy fee....
 
josh said:
................A few other minor questions about the grandfathering still remain. For instance, if a person has never bought Kaleidescape before, but buys a USED system that was grandfathered under its original owner, what's the status of that new owner? Are they grandfathered (since the grandfathering applies to the server/system, not the owner) and can continue to import DVDs onto that system that always had the ability? Or are they now subject to the DVD restrictions since they were not an official K customer before Nov. '14?

Some other good news in the way this has come together, is I believe that there is still the incentive at K to maintain the DVD Movieguide service, as that metadata is still valuable for post-settlement (non-grandfathered) systems... those systems can still play back DVDs (from vault or tray) and therefore still need the metadata. So Movieguide resources will still be applied to DVDs. Had the settlement meant a full abandonment of DVD playback entirely going forward, as was possible, then there'd be dwindling incentive for K to apply resources to keeping up with DVD metadata for a smaller and smaller number of households. So I consider that good news.

--josh
Click to expand...



Yes, a person buying a used "legacy" system (new to K, but buying used) is grandfathered. That system will continue to support DVD imports.


Yes, K will continue to support DVD metadata going forward (we also have DVD's available in the K Store).


Jim
 
Thanks Jim.

Jerry, very creative thinking. One question this raises though is how would the content providers view such a move? I suspect they would be very skeptical of this kind of move and it seems like Kaleidecape and the CCA settling is an attempt by K to mend fences and get the content into their store. I think such a move would have the consequence of damming the good will Kaleidescape has seemingly bought with the settlement.... Still I like the creative thinking! :)
 
FAQs Published

Today our official Kaleidescape email and FAQ went out to all dealers. This will answer many of the questions that have come up in the past week since ending this monumental court case.

Thank you, Becky
Social Media Marketing Manager at Kaleidescape

Dear Kaleidescape Dealer,

Last week we announced good news: We settled our decade-old lawsuit with the DVD CCA. For our official statement, please read our press release. I am sure you will have questions about what this means for your clients who already own a Kaleidescape System, and about the impact this settlement may have for systems you have planned for future projects. We have prepared an FAQ to answer such questions.

This settlement agreement paves the way for us to expand our relationships with the motion picture studios and to focus on building and delivering the finest way to discover, collect, and enjoy movies. The settlement will enable us to add an amazing selection of high-quality content to the Kaleidescape Store. As you can imagine, it was hard to forge deep relationships with the content owners with this litigation going on. This litigation also made it harder to work with world-class suppliers, industry partners, and so on. Now these problems are in the past and the future is bright.
We know that some of your clients have been concerned about purchasing an expensive system from a company mired in a lawsuit. Your clients can stop worrying. There is no longer any dispute over the legitimacy of the Kaleidescape System. And, Kaleidescape will be providing service and support to all of our dealers and customers for many years to come.

While electronically delivered content is the future of home video, DVD and Blu-ray formats will continue to have a place in the home, especially among movie enthusiasts. Many classic films, foreign films, television series, concerts, and documentaries are available only on DVD. Some Blu-ray content is not available online. And some content will only be available on the Kaleidescape Store (especially new higher-quality formats and titles which have never been released on DVD or Blu-ray disc). What Kaleidescape offers is the ability for consumers to enjoy their movies on a beautiful system that is simple and requires no knowledge of where the content came from: DVD, Blu-ray disc, or the Kaleidescape Store.

As movie formats evolve, Kaleidescape will continue to provide products and services to serve the needs of discerning clients who want the highest-quality movie-watching experience at home. Kaleidescape is committed to the high-end market, including future solutions that will deliver and play titles in 4K (UHD) as well as high dynamic range (HDR).

Kaleidescape is equally committed to our custom electronic channel. We appreciate your continued support through all these years and we look forward to serving you better now that this dispute is behind us.

Sincerely,
Cheena Srinivasan
Founder & CEO
Kaleidescape, Inc.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Becky, thank you for posting this. Just FYI, I can't access the FAQ because it requires an Extranet account. I just requested one. I suspect you will get many such requests. It might be easier to post the FAQ to a more open part of your site....

I'm excited that now Kaleidescape can continue to innovate.
 
Still supports DVD, more info to come, and best of all... official comment that HDR and UHD are coming. Yet nothing on 3D.

Great remarks. Should be nice to see the new FAQ content, if it hits a more public location (since "most frequently asked" is already taken.)
 
Hello, I have removed the link to the FAQ because it was causing some confusion for those without Extranet access. We hope to post a customer-specific FAQ soon.
 
Thank you Becky.

As to future player capabilities. I would love to have all the capabilities. My personal hit list:

Full decoding of all the audio codecs to PCM
High Res Audio probably via a special music store
4K video and redesigned GUI designed to take advantage.
3D
Anything else?
 
Keep the 3D.
UHD for sure
High res audio via the store is a fantastic idea Jerry. How about a player that works with Apple and iTunes too
 
3D - not bothered
UHD - yes please
Hi Res audio, I like the idea but that would need a quantum leap from the current player capabilities and is K really a 'hifi' equipment company?
 
Agreed, just rambling here. Working with Apple and iTunes would be nice too.

And if it could dispense bit coins :) LOL
 
JerryL said:
Thank you Becky.

As to future player capabilities. I would love to have all the capabilities. My personal hit list:

Full decoding of all the audio codecs to PCM
High Res Audio probably via a special music store
4K video and redesigned GUI designed to take advantage.
3D
Anything else?
Click to expand...

Compatibility with Dbox
4K upscaling for everything not 4K
 
Im sure if they have 4K they will offer upscaling- and I bet it will be pretty good!

Personally, I would have an external processor likely from Lutron and I would do the upscaling there.

Id spec the menus to be in 4K and consider the options for DVD but send 1080P stuff out native for the VP.

DBox is an interesting option that many use so I think it would be something K should consider.
 
My dream is for

1) all codecs to be decoded by K players... I assume this is a matter of cost for the license, but it cannot be anything else. Now that the players will do less, maybe we can get other options

2) My old battle cry is for them to link up with a high end audio company where you can use their servers for your music. Not really interested in Apple, their music environment is way too restrictive.

Other thoughts. I really doubt a UHD player is coming out from K any time soon. They seem like they want to make sure it catches on and what format will be the standard. Look at the disaster that is Sony with its network players! I also don't see 3D in the picture
 
Good thoughts. Some reactions:

I don't think its so much a licensing thing, but rather a chipset thing. The M class players came out sometime in 2010 or so? So they were likely designed maybe in 2009. Thats ancient times now but back then they had to make choices for which chips to use and cost and compatibility were probably big factors. I think thats why we have the lack of decoding. Its just those are the chips we have. I bet if they engineered this today theres probably not a chipset out there that doesn't decode these formats and we'd have them built in. This is purely my speculation.

I think K actually could be an early entrant into 4K because they don't have to wait for a disc format since it will be download; they just need to have the video format and I think the industry will settle that pretty quickly.

I agree they most likely will wait to see how things settle but I think 4K is an opportunity for them to demonstrate leadership and offer those with the means but on the fence for such a system something compelling. There already are 4K projectors and monitors and many more are coming. Totally wild guess is we're 18 months away.
 
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