Curiousity #2: Superman Returns ... Forever?
Filed under: Media , The Weekly Curiousity , Xbox 360
When the Xbox Live Video Marketplace went live in November last year there was little my wife and I were interested in. It wasn't until New Years Eve that we tried our first film, Superman Returns. Other than a long download (it is 7.1 GB), it worked well.
Now for those that don't know, movies on the Video Marketplace cannot be bought, just rented. You have up to two weeks to watch the film and once you start watching it you can watch it as often as you like in the following 24 hours.
This past week, however, I discovered my Superman Returns rental hadn't expired. It would appear neither of my 360s recognize the license being used (photo attached) but both are able to play the film without issue. I have tried it multiple times on multiple days. Yup, I have a movie I can watch whenever I like.
I'm not sure how prevalent the 'problem' is but the other movies I've downloaded have not suffered the same fate as Superman Returns. Anyone else seen this?
Ooops! So much for the fabled Microsoft DRM. I wonder if they'll hit the same issues in Vista. The DRM implemented for Zune was so restrictive that it almost renders the file sharing useless.
I'd be curious to see what form the movie is stored in on the drive - if it is in a non-encrypted format with standard codecs, then it's a back door for movie piracy.
... so said 'Ming' on 02/05/2007 @ 01:55:50 PM [Direct Link]
Hey Ming. I think they simply posted the movie without the proper DRM. Though over on Xbox 360 Fanboy someone said they could duplicate it. See: http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/02/05/marketplace-movies-that-dont-expire/
... so said 'Joseph Molnar' on 02/05/2007 @ 07:32:03 PM [Direct Link]