Damn Their Eyes!

SO I got this new DVD recorder (NEC 3500) and, just for once, wanted to use it to make an honest backup (!) of a DVD that was quite rare. But when I tried to use the backup software, it all kept crapping out. A quick search revealed that DVD hardware itself these days is being routinely crippled with something called “Rip Lock” to prevent such backups. Another quick search found that, of course, this action has provoked a strong response and now hundreds of otherwise-idle crazy teen hackers have now become experts in hacking DVD recorder firmware and there is now a huge cottage industry in updating and improving the “official”, crippled hardware. In many case, this adds new functionality and increases burn speeds, media compatibility, and so on. This is yet another illustration of John Gilmore‘s early observation concerning the Internet and censorship. Needless to say, after a quick reflash the DVD recorder is now ripping happily. A nice touch is that these hacked releases add bitsetting, which lets you burn and DVD and digitally “stamp” it as an original, factory-pressed disc. This fools some fussy or otherwise suspicious players that might refuse to play a non-factory pressed “original” DVD.

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