HD DVD and/or Blu-ray is suppose to take over after the next DVD format as the next optical storage format for both data and multimedia. A big drawback with the DVD format was its copy protection which was cracked almost immediately after the format was launched. The new blue-laser formats would make it considerably harder for pirates to spread material, but they don’t seem to have done a very good job. Already before we’ve seen the first HD DVD players here in Northern Europe the first HD DVD movies have been pirated. And we’re not talking about any stripped down versions but they seem to be identical copies, and it’s not just one but several movies of the HD DVD format that have been pirated.
Among others, Batman Begins and The Chronicles of Riddick have appeared available for download lately. The sizes of the movies are about 24GB each, complete copies with everything from movies to extra material. We’re very curious to see what will happen to the Blu-ray format and how it will withstand the pirates.
