Interesting info guys. My hope is this is simply a coincidence and not intentional on the part of NewLine.
If Newline is indeed deliberately finding new copy protection methods to stop importing discs then they may want to take a valuable lesson from Sony who landed themselves in hot water for their copy protection attempt on CD's in 2005.
This Extended copy protection (XCP) created vulnerabilities on Microsoft Windows operating systems when the software was automatically installed.
It also affected playback on some players which we personally experienced on some pro Denon gear.
A number of parties filed lawsuits against Sony BMG which resulted in a product recall of the 52 titles that were using the technology.
This little experiment would have come at a cost of 10?s of millions of dollars only to backfire.
It's not the first time Sony has attempted DRM and won't be the last but they have managed to upset a large number of consumers in the process. When Sony was approached by one customer about the issue, the response was ?it's up to the manufacturers of the DVD players to update their firmware to accommodate the new DRM?.
Since when did Sony earn the right to dictate what other manufacturers should be doing and is Sony willing to pay these costs incurred because of their actions?
I'm a big believer that if the movie or music is good, then you will shell out the bucks and purchase the original CD or DVD.
Kaleidescape have really been singled out by the DVD CCA and associated bodies over other product manufacturers like AMX MAX who is doing exactly the same thing!
The only difference that I can see is that Kaleidescape present one of the most polished and high performing products to be produced by our industry and the comments on this forum by owners is a tribute to this.
It is complete lunacy to think that someone who can afford to purchase a system like Kaleidescape is a bigger threat than someone who can afford a computer with a DVD or Blu-ray drive and some software which they either got for free or pirated!
Kaleidescape have been very careful throughout the development of this product to ensure that they are not infringing on copyright laws and agreements. They have an extensive investment that I personally can?t see them not protecting to the very end, much the same way I would with my own business.