Leading independent children's producer and rights owner HIT Entertainment has licensed RipGuard DVD, which combined with Macrovision Analogue Content Protection (ACP) technology, offers protection from both digital and analogue copyright theft.

DeCSS ripping breaks the CSS encryption found on DVDs and places these unprotected files onto a PC, where they can be burned onto inexpensive recordable DVDs or shared over P2P networks. Globally, over 6 million households use DeCSS rippers - a figure that suggests the practice is approaching a critical mass.

"With the threat of both digital and analogue piracy becoming more apparent with children’s DVDs, it is essential that our new programs are comprehensively protected," said David King, Vice President of Entertainment, HIT Entertainment.

According to the latest results of research conducted by the British Video Association, DVD ripping and burning for private use is carried out by 3% of the British mainland population. Over a 12 month period, this results in the production of 9.5 million illegally copied DVDs. This figure does not include copies bought from street traders, where it is estimated an additional 17 million units are in circulation in mainland Britain alone, netting a criminal gain of over 26 million annually.

Macrovision ACP for DVD prevents or distorts copies of DVDs made over an analogue interface to DVD recorders, PCs, and digital video recorders in addition to D-VHS recorders (DVRs) and VCRs. By preventing copying onto digital devices, Macrovision ACP dramatically reduces the digital sharing of this content, including sharing among PCs, DVRs and over peer-to-peer networks.

RipGuard DVD is a unilateral content protection system that is applied to DVD discs - it does not require any additional software or hardware to be incorporated into PCs, DVD players or DVD recorders. A technological solution that effectively protects a copyright owner’s rights, RipGuard DVD is complemented by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it illegal to attempt circumvention of such technological measures.

Story filed 25.02.07