4 ms·

For this Apple one it was a pressed DVD, would it be possible for those to be uniquely identifiable? AMPAS has almost 10,000 members, presumably at that scale

For this Apple one it was a pressed DVD, would it be possible for those to be uniquely identifiable? AMPAS has almost 10,000 members, presumably at that scale it makes sense to have pressed DVDs made. For screeners just sent out to certain branches though, maybe burned DVDs make sense?

dylan604 5y ago
Not all production companies choose to do the forensic watermarking distribution method. Production companies are cheap summabitches. The main users of the forensic watermarking services were the Majors (the traditional studios, not these young upstarts). It could very well be possible that nobody working for this company even knows it's possible to do this. It could be possible they know and decided it's not worth their money for it. I cannot provide the definitive answer. If it is a pressed DVD release, then there is no way for each disc to be unique without each disc having a glass master created which is just beyond the realm of sanity. Even with Apple having more money that God, this particular silo of the Apple universe cannot tap into it willy-nilly for something like this.
- Wowfunhappy 5y ago
  Given that this movie is available to the public on AppleTV Plus, in high definition no less, I can see why you wouldn’t spend money preventing leakage of a standard definition DVD.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    Except for the lazy. Gaining access to that higher quality streamed source is much more labor intensive (as far as using it for a source to pirate). A DVD is pretty much rippable by a 5th grader doing the math on pencil an paper ;-)
    - goosedragons 5y ago
      Maybe. These days a $30 random HDMI capture card can do an okay job. Won't be perfect and you'd need to play it in real time but better than a DVD. Could still probably be handled by a 5th grader.
  - rvba 5y ago
    The screeners can happen before a general release.
    - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
      Yes, but not in _this_ case, which I thought may why this one was less protected.
dylan604 5y ago
As a follow up, I could think of one way that would make each disc identifiable, but not the content extracted from it, so it wouldn't realy make financial sense to me to do it. On the inner ring of the disc where the printing typically stopped could be placed a bar code or other type of marking that could ID the disc. All this would help find is someone in possession of something they were not issued, and trace back the person who did not follow screener policy of not letting unauthorized persons access to the content.

dylan604 5y ago

Not all production companies choose to do the forensic watermarking distribution method. Production companies are cheap summabitches. The main users of the forensic watermarking services were the Majors (the traditional studios, not these young upstarts). It could very well be possible that nobody working for this company even knows it's possible to do this. It could be possible they know and decided it's not worth their money for it. I cannot provide the definitive answer. If it is a pressed DVD release, then there is no way for each disc to be unique without each disc having a glass master created which is just beyond the realm of sanity. Even with Apple having more money that God, this particular silo of the Apple universe cannot tap into it willy-nilly for something like this.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago
Given that this movie is available to the public on AppleTV Plus, in high definition no less, I can see why you wouldn’t spend money preventing leakage of a standard definition DVD.
- dylan604 5y ago
  Except for the lazy. Gaining access to that higher quality streamed source is much more labor intensive (as far as using it for a source to pirate). A DVD is pretty much rippable by a 5th grader doing the math on pencil an paper ;-)
  - goosedragons 5y ago
    Maybe. These days a $30 random HDMI capture card can do an okay job. Won't be perfect and you'd need to play it in real time but better than a DVD. Could still probably be handled by a 5th grader.
- rvba 5y ago
  The screeners can happen before a general release.
  - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
    Yes, but not in _this_ case, which I thought may why this one was less protected.

dylan604 5y ago

As a follow up, I could think of one way that would make each disc identifiable, but not the content extracted from it, so it wouldn't realy make financial sense to me to do it. On the inner ring of the disc where the printing typically stopped could be placed a bar code or other type of marking that could ID the disc. All this would help find is someone in possession of something they were not issued, and trace back the person who did not follow screener policy of not letting unauthorized persons access to the content.