Many of us have computers with DVD burners as well as high-speed Internet connections, so in theory it should be relatively straight forward for us to buy a movie online, download it, and burn it onto a DVD. Not so. The problem has been getting the movie studios to agree on a content protection mechanism. That problem, now appears to have been solved, thanks to a new licensing and certification program, Qflix, from Sonic Solutions. 

Qflix is designed to enable the legal, secure, and reliable burning of video content to DVDs playable on standard and high-definition players. The Qflix technology and intellectual property program allows on-demand, electronic sell-through of movies and video programs that can be recorded to DVD with Content Scramble System (CSS) encryption.

“The floodgates of digital distribution are about to burst, so now is the perfect time to provide an innovative technical solution that combines the advantages of electronic delivery with the simplicity and universal playback capabilities of CSS-protected DVDs,” said Jim Taylor, general manager of Sonic’s Advanced Technology Group.

“Downloading to computers, portable devices, and internet-connected TV set-top boxes are all emerging pieces of the digital media ecosystem, but the entertainment value chain is incomplete without a cost-effective way to digitally deliver content that can be owned and viewed in the consumer’s entertainment venues of choice, including the living room. Qflix delivers this and opens many new channels for vast amounts of video programming such as TV shows, back-catalog movies, special interest programs, independent films, educational titles, and much, much more.”

Before you get too excited, you should be aware that you will need a new DVD burner and software in order to create movie DVDs on your computer using Qflix.

However, Qflix does already have the backing of a number of key companies, such as drive manufacturer Plextor and media manufacturer Verbatim. Perhaps most importantly it has the backing of major movie studio Warner Bros.

“Warner Bros. is committed to giving consumers the widest range of choices to access our content in ways that recognize and protect its value,” said Chris Cookson, president, Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Chief Technology Officer.

“We are pleased and encouraged to see efforts like Sonic’s creation of Qflix that address the need for industry-standard protection.”

While Qflix is off to a promising start, it will be interesting to see whether enough of the major players, in particular the movie studios, get on board for the system to take off.

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Entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 6:07 pm under Technology.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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