Pubilshed in REELCHICAGO - by Warner Sills

Digital Post’s Tim Montague

For the first time and exclusively in Chicago, a local company offers the same kind of copy protection to non-theatrical producers with short order needs that big studios use to prevent DVD piracy.

Tim Montague’s Chicago Digital collaborated with Macrovision’s RipGuard copy protection to create RipGuard-MOD (ManufacturingOnDemand) to protect recordable DVDs.

“The piracy of independent producer material has been rampant and unchecked up until this point,” says Montague. “We put the power back in the producer’s hands. That’s what really makes this so exciting.”

Montague said he approached Macrovision early in 2007. “I said, ‘Listen, we have an idea to take this technology and apply it to a whole new segment.’ They never intended to introduce it to this part of the market.”

Rip-Guard MOD was officially launched last June after a significant Chicago Digital investment, but Montague said it hasn’t been widely marketed yet on a national basis.

The MOD technology not only prevents consumers from ripping the DVDs (digitally uploading the content on a computer for purposes of making duplicates) but CDP also pioneered technology that thwarts copying discs using peripheral analog recorders.

CDP also pioneered the mainstream application of ACP (analog copy protection), another Macrovision technology, on recordable DVD after the DVD has already been authored, another industry first, according to Montague.

Macrovision’s ACP has been an established technology for more than the last decade and is still employed on virtually every mainstream Hollywood title to protect analog content.

CHICAGO DIGITAL IS A FULL SERVICE OPERATION UNDER ONE ROOF

Currently, the technology will work for all standard and dual layer DVDs, but hasn’t branched out to the high-definition market through Blu-Ray discs.

The cost of RipGuard-MOD service is lower than competitors, Montague noted. While the competition might sell 10 DVDs for 5.99 each, CDP can afford to offer them for $3.24 a piece, a savings of 54%.

Since its launch, RipGuard-MOD has protected thousands of discs ranging from training DVDs to wedding photographers to special family events.

They’ve also copy protected training videos for police officers. Montague finds this ironic, since he wouldn’t expect this segment of the market to be breaking copyright laws.

Montague started Chicago Digital Post in 2004 and in early 2007 merged with Great Lakes Digital Media to create a full service company – production, post, multimedia and crew staffing — under one roof.

The company also makes Pre-Packaged Blank Recordable DVDs for videographers and other producers who don’t mass-replicate their products.

Chicago Digital Post is located at 913 S. State St, Lockport; phone, 815/588-5000. See www.analogfree.com.