This is how rich people watched Furious 7 last weekend

theverge.com

3 pointsdataminer2 comments

The only way PRIMA works — the only way studios and theaters are cool with its existence — is by being heart-stoppingly expensive and Fort Knox secure. It needs to be so ridiculous that it doesn’t pose even the smallest threat to the theater business.

Under the branding this is basically the same system theaters use. Anyone can have it if they don't mind ponying up the money. Distributors have to a large extent subsidized the rollout of these systems, but charge a fee per showing to recoup the up-front investment, I think it's $250.

> It’s tied to an individual homeowner, and an invisible watermark on every movie identifies which box is in use. That way, if a recording does show up online, an owner can be identified and put in the hot seat very, very quickly.

How long before someone breaks the DRM, gets their hands on two watermarked copies of the same film, isolates and obscures the watermark, and posts the film online? A zero-day pirated release of a major blockbuster in (presumably) gorgeous Blu-ray quality would be a big deal.

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