Even with all of this onerous encryption and DRM, it's not hard to find pirated copies of movies. It makes me think that the sacrifice in ownership rights for the theaters over their equipment isn't worth it.
Yep, and those pirated copies are DRM free, work everywhere, no HDCP and other crap, no internet connection needed, so they're "better" in that way too (not just price-wise).
Totally possible that watermark identifies cinemas and showtimes uniquely, and that pirates are due for a lifetime of prosecution. Or that studios will shut down some cinemas, until it stops.
For 15 years you let paid options progress. Then fewer people pirate, then you catch the rest. At the beginning you don’t see it putting its clamps; then suddenly you don’t find piracy anywhere.
I don't think new theatre releases are generally getting leak in digital formats anymore until they hit streaming which can sometimes be as soon as weeks or couple months after original release. Obviously 'tele-syncs' (cameras capturing the film) still exist but that wasn't your question. The one exception to this can be oscar movie season when studios release films via a special Apple TV app and that be be slightly less secure (though still water-marked).
I would ask you to support your claim of 'high quality digital dumps' by citing one that has come out in the last couple years. See https://predb.net/
Even with all of this onerous encryption and DRM, it's not hard to find pirated copies of movies. It makes me think that the sacrifice in ownership rights for the theaters over their equipment isn't worth it.
Yep, and those pirated copies are DRM free, work everywhere, no HDCP and other crap, no internet connection needed, so they're "better" in that way too (not just price-wise).
Totally possible that watermark identifies cinemas and showtimes uniquely, and that pirates are due for a lifetime of prosecution. Or that studios will shut down some cinemas, until it stops.
For 15 years you let paid options progress. Then fewer people pirate, then you catch the rest. At the beginning you don’t see it putting its clamps; then suddenly you don’t find piracy anywhere.
How are groups getting the high quality digital dumps of some movies then?
I don't think new theatre releases are generally getting leak in digital formats anymore until they hit streaming which can sometimes be as soon as weeks or couple months after original release. Obviously 'tele-syncs' (cameras capturing the film) still exist but that wasn't your question. The one exception to this can be oscar movie season when studios release films via a special Apple TV app and that be be slightly less secure (though still water-marked).
I would ask you to support your claim of 'high quality digital dumps' by citing one that has come out in the last couple years. See https://predb.net/
Fascinating read and I think an accessible presentation of a lot of the concepts / framework and mechanics of this type of system.