Ultra-high-end
DVD server manufacturer Kaleidescape is reportedly being sued by the
DVD Copy Control Association in an effort to keep the company from
selling any more of their products. The suit alleges that
Kaleidescape’s products allow people to illegally make copies of movies
using the Kaleidescape server.
Kaleidescape has historically been incredibly careful – if not paranoid – about such lawsuits and has gone to lengths to ensure that their products live up to the agreements that the company has with Hollywood movie studios. Their servers, which start in price from $27,000 and range to over $100,000, depending on how many rooms are involved and how much storage a client desires, are unique computers that are hard (if not borderline impossible) to connect to peer-to-peer networks. Kaleidescape can uniquely distribute video from one main location to numerous rooms.
While the DVD Copy Control Association has reportedly been successful in past litigation, Hollywood should be looking at the big picture with out-of-the-box companies like Kaleidescape. The traditional box office business model makes billions upon billions of dollars now and will continue to do so for years to come. Even as box office numbers soar, there are other issues to consider as consumers invest (by the millions per month) in HDTV-based home theaters. It is essential for Hollywood to find new ways of distributing encrypted video content (ultimately in HDTV) in the coming years for the movie industry to remain the cash cow it has been for the past century.
Michael Malcolm, one of Kaleidescape’s founders told Audio Video Revolution that “We are prepared to fight these legal challenges both financially and emotionally.” In the event Kaleidescape wins there will likely be precedent setting decisions that will set the tempo for the entire video server business – a category being carefully watched by top AV manufacturers as well as giant computer companies looking for a way to monetize selling entertainment via a PC.
Sources:
CNET.com
Various Websites
Kaleidescape has historically been incredibly careful – if not paranoid – about such lawsuits and has gone to lengths to ensure that their products live up to the agreements that the company has with Hollywood movie studios. Their servers, which start in price from $27,000 and range to over $100,000, depending on how many rooms are involved and how much storage a client desires, are unique computers that are hard (if not borderline impossible) to connect to peer-to-peer networks. Kaleidescape can uniquely distribute video from one main location to numerous rooms.
While the DVD Copy Control Association has reportedly been successful in past litigation, Hollywood should be looking at the big picture with out-of-the-box companies like Kaleidescape. The traditional box office business model makes billions upon billions of dollars now and will continue to do so for years to come. Even as box office numbers soar, there are other issues to consider as consumers invest (by the millions per month) in HDTV-based home theaters. It is essential for Hollywood to find new ways of distributing encrypted video content (ultimately in HDTV) in the coming years for the movie industry to remain the cash cow it has been for the past century.
Michael Malcolm, one of Kaleidescape’s founders told Audio Video Revolution that “We are prepared to fight these legal challenges both financially and emotionally.” In the event Kaleidescape wins there will likely be precedent setting decisions that will set the tempo for the entire video server business – a category being carefully watched by top AV manufacturers as well as giant computer companies looking for a way to monetize selling entertainment via a PC.
Sources:
CNET.com
Various Websites
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3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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