Found this interesting little story over at Wired News that will make getting those horrible looking and sounding bootleg copies of movies. It seems there are 2 new pieces of technology being used in some test market that will make life a little more difficult for those who like to bring home video cameras into the theater. Wired gives us this:
The company’s anti-piracy offering comprises two technologies. The first, PirateEye, detects camcorders and pinhole cameras in the act of bootlegging movies, according to Trakstar. The remote-controlled device looks like a mechanical replica of Darth Vader’s head. Perched on a stand directly below the movie screen at the front of the theater, the small black box shoots brief, almost invisible pulses of light at the audience. Offending camera lenses bounce back a telltale reflection that the device senses, then records on a digital snapshot captured with a built-in digital camera of its own. If the machine spots a suspected pirating camcorder in the audience, it then sends out an automated alarm to in-theater security or law enforcement.
The second part of Trakstar’s system is a forensic audio-watermarking technology called TVS. The TVS device sits between the theater’s cinema processor and audio-amplification unit, and generates inaudible sonic tags that can later be used as evidence to trace the date, time and theater at which a pirated file originated. The watermarks can be unlocked and read with the help of proprietary software keys. The system relies on multiple forms of security, including wireless GPS sensors that trigger the unit to flush the watermarking algorithm from its memory if the TVS box is moved from its designated location.
Sounds like pretty cool stuff. The only thing that makes me feel a little uneasy is the idea of a video camera contantly watching me in the theater. Or do we automatically give up any right to privacy when we walk into a public place? Feels a little Big Brotherish to me. Anyway, it’s a good article and you should head over to Wired to read the whole thing.
