Live DRM-Free or Die Hard: Fox DVDs To Include Digital Copy
20th Century Fox are trying out a bold new move with a selection of their upcoming DVD releases, starting with the November 20th release of Live Free or Die Hard. In addition to offering an Unrated cut of the film, they are also trying to entice more people to buy it by including a digital copy of the movie that can be played on a computer or portable media player like an iPod. The file will be free of any DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection, however it will require the Microsoft Windows’ PlaysForSure feature and the entry of a serial number in order to actually transfer the file.
While they fail to mention anything about supporting Mac users, it does seem like a rather progressive step for a movie studio to make. The question is, will anyone actually use something like this? I’ve been wondering when movies would reach the same level of digital portability as music, where people can buy an album and rip it onto their iPod to carry with them wherever they go. Ripping movies onto an iPod has never been a quick or easy process (not to mention the fact that it’s a bit of a legal gray area), but this seems to have that problem licked. I’m just not sure how many people actually watch full movies on portable media players. What do you think, is this idea good, bad or irrelevant?
Comments (16)
I think it’s a great idea! Now you can buy the DVD and put it on your iPod and there’s no illegal downloading or buying two different formats…why would anybody think this is a bad idea??
Posted by mike on October 16th, 2007It’s not a bad idea in traditional sense, but I’ve often wondered who has the capacity to watch full length movies on their iPods. UMDs failed for reason; PSPs make for shitty theaters. It’s nice for Fox to reach out like this, but I doubt many people will take advantage of it.
Posted by Dave on October 16th, 2007I just bought the movie and I’m getting an error report from DRM protected File Manager and it shuts down. Anyone know how I can fix that?
Posted by Dave G on November 20th, 2007I have this DVD, attempting to ‘Transfer digital Copy’ and getting the DRM Manager error after typing in the PID they provide. There appears to be no fix on their boards or support FAQs – Any suggestions?
Oh BTW – this doesn’t work on Zune, iPOD or the PSP. Only the Play-for-(not)sure devices. LAME!!
Posted by Scott S on November 27th, 2007I am also getting the same DRM Protected File Manager error on three different computers. I have tried to transfer the digital copy in both Windows XP and Vista with no luck. I contacted Fox Digital Copy support and they only said that I should contact Microsoft about it.
Well, after emailing Microsoft, they responded saying that I should look for the answer myself at the Knowledge Base or the Product Solution Center. After searching in both areas, I have still not found a solution for the error.
The same thing happened with my digital copy of Family Guy Blue Harvest. I had to transfer it over into iTunes instead. At first, I thought this whole “digital copy” thing was going to be pretty neat, but now it seems like it has a ways to go before consumers would be comfortable with the hassle of dealing with its limitations.
Anyway, if anyone has found a solution to this mysteriously unsolvable error, please post it here. It would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by Josh W on February 14th, 2008Also if anyone happens to find this page through a web search, like I did, please post any information you find about “DRM Protected File Manager has stopped working”.
Posted by Josh W on February 14th, 2008Microsoft really sucks bigtime!
Posted by Microsoft will always suck! on February 23rd, 2008I was able to get around the problem.
I had the same problem with the DRM Protected File Manager. Tried it several times, checked the Microsoft Knowledge base–no luck. I figured it was probably another Vista glitch. Then I opened the DVD to view the files, and I found two .wmv files in DVDROM\Media. One is LiveFreeDieHard_PC_NTSC.wmv, and the other is LiveFreeDieHard_PORT_NTSC.wmv. I double-clicked on LiveFreeDieHard_PC_NTSC.wmv, and Windows Media Player opened and asked for my PID. I entered it, and it said I now have a license. I dragged the file to a folder on my hard drive and opened the movie. It worked. I don’t have a portable player to try the other file, but I imagine it works the same.
Looks like this might be a Fox problem??? The error, after all, is happening in their software. Could it be that Vista is really not at fault here??????
Hope this helps. Happy viewing.
Posted by Bill on February 27th, 2008Bill’s solution worked great for my PC, am not able to pull file into iTunes and transfer on iPod. Anyone get this feature working?
Posted by Sling3r on March 15th, 2008Thanks Bill your workaround works just great.
Regards
Posted by Tristan on March 26th, 2008Bill,
Many thanks man! It worked for me too.
Posted by Christopher on May 7th, 2008The people at Fox are definitely on my list now.
They gave me the same bull$hi.. answer that they gave you. They said to call Microsoft.
This is right after I installed a digital copy of I am Legend without any problems whatsoever.
By the way, your fix works for XP just fine as well.
Kudos again!
Fox sucks! The same error happened with my digital copy of Family Guy Blue Harvest too. Bill’s solution worked, look like Fox should hire Bill for there customer support! I’ve DL other copies of movies from other comps with no problem, so it is just Fox films.
Posted by Not Bill on December 31st, 2008iv tried installing the step brothers digital copy on my computer but when i try to it says that i cant because windows enternet explorer 6 or grater is not set as my defalt broser but it is i dont even have another browser. I have vista if that makes a diffrence. can some one please help
Posted by steve on January 3rd, 2009Dude, Bill, you rock! Instant gratification. Wow. knowledge base can suck my knowledgable nuts.
Posted by Trench on January 28th, 2009Good job man!
kudos!
i’m havin a bit more of a problem than the rest of you in my opinion. you know the part that says to enter the redeemable code on the insert inside the case? well they forgot to put a insert in my copy and now i can’t copy it to my ipod unless i find somebody that has the same copy as me or i find it online…the latter being the least likely of being successful.
Posted by RobluvsRock on April 7th, 2009Hey man i lost my digital copy serial code ..please post one so i can playit in my phone….thanx peeps.
Posted by Bald760 on August 4th, 2009Leave a Reply