Macrovision, announced to the British Video Association (BVA)?s IP seminar the availability of its new RipGuard DVD Rip Control solution designed to combat video piracy.

RipGuard prevents personal computers using ?ripper software? to illegally duplicate protected DVDs.

Martin Brooker, Director of Sales for Macrovision EMEA, will present an overview of RipGuard, a digital anti-ripping technology that complements Macrovision?s existing Analogue (video) Copy Protection system (ACP).

Macrovision?s ACP system has been applied to over 8.1 billion DVDs & VHS units. The technology is used to prevent copying the video output from either DVD players or VCRs to DVD recorders, hard drive recorders and compliant home media center PCs. It is the only analogue protection technology that is globally implemented in over 440 million consumer electronics and PC/DVD devices, and requires manufacturer certification for effectiveness and playability with Macrovision?s compliance lab.

However, hackers are tenacious, and by combining illicit hardware and software, they can crack the DVD format?s CSS encryption and make unauthorised digital copies that can be burned to a DVD recordable disc or uploaded to a file sharing network. Unauthorised DVD ripping leads directly to exponential distribution and downloading on the P2P networks and a substantial revenue loss for the video industry.

Macrovision addresses this growing threat by delivering effective solutions that massively decrease supply of unauthorised files (DVD ripping and burning) by utilising two physical DVD media-based technologies (ACP copy protection and RipGuard rip control).

Plugging the Digital Hole
The ?digital hole? is the result of DVD ripping, the process of breaking the CSS encryption found on DVDs and placing these unprotected files onto a PC hard drive. From there, unprotected ?perfect? copies can be burned, or the files can be shared with millions over the P2P networks. DeCSS rippers are easy to find online or in retail software stores ? and most of these online rippers are free.

Extensive tests showed that RipGuard affects the success of the most commonly-used ripping software products in the market. It has been effective in either completely obstructing the software or slowing it down to the point of futility. RipGuard applies a Unique Digital Framework for each title to ensure that this effectiveness lasts over time. Once RipGuard becomes widely available in commercial titles, Macrovision will persistently monitor the ripping software market to ensure that RipGuard continues to be effective even as new techniques are introduced to circumvent the anti-ripping methodology.

Creating the perfect DVD Rip Control solution is a formidable task. It has to have universal playability on every DVD player and PC in the market. It must remain effective in the face of evolving ripper technology. It needs to fit seamlessly into DVD authoring and replication workflow. And, it needs to provide complete content protection and integrate with solutions that block the remaining ?analogue? and ?P2P network? holes. RipGuard meets these stringent requirements.