Botswana artists believe piracy on locally-produced DVDs will soon be a thing of the past following the importation of sophisticated computer hardware from the US by one of nation's reputable record labels.

Piracy has been rampant, especially on locally-produced DVD titles making it difficult for artists to reap their rewards from sales. The Copy Right Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) is seen to have failed to put foolproof measure in place to curb piracy save for a shiny hologram, “which serves as a mere decoration instead of being a protective device,” artists complain.

The hologram only serves as a licence to sell products in local musical outlets rather than combating piracy. A DVD or CD with a hologram can easily be duplicated, but not if Dargie Digital Studios of Gaborone are implementing the hardware solution they bought from US company Rimage.

The hardware, which comprises a dual set, has an imbedded PC. When a master DVD is loaded into the machine, the data from the master disc will be uploaded into the system. This triggers the creation of a password at the beginning and end of the video file. The device then produces a password-protected master DVD, which the company claims cannot be cracked. With it, any number of DVD copies can be duplicated which cannot be pirated. The system can make more than a thousand discs a day.

"For a counterfeiter to have access to the protected DVD, he or she would need those two imbedded codes to write the DVD from any computer. Moreover, when a disc is loaded to be written, the computer will not even request a password, instead it will jump the copying system and refuse to respond," explains company director Dargie. The hardware does not affect playback of the DVD.

Story filed 16.03.10