Digital Copy arrives in the UK with hopes of ending piracy. Pah!

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The “Digital Copy” concept was unveiled nearly a year ago at Macworld 2008, but given the time it takes for most ideas to crawl the Atlantic seabed to Blighty, the first DVD title featuring the technology has only just been released here.

Twentieth Century Fox’s “What Happens in Vegas” DVD now comes with the ability to legally rip a copy of the film to your iTunes library, where it can then be moved onto your iPod or iPhone, or just watched on the desktop without having to use the disc.

Jim Gianopulos, chairman and chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment, said he was “thrilled” with this “incredibly simple way for our customers to get even more out of their DVD purchase”, claiming that iTunes compatibility wa one of the most requested features of DVD buyers…

RealDVD: might be legal, but the movie industry suits don't like it

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There’s a little buzz around Real Networks’ inspiringly-named RealDVD software, for while the company claims that it legally copies DVDs to a hard disc and adds an extra level of DRM into the mix, the movie industry may not be too happy about it.

Unlike the plethora of software that cracks standard and high definition discs so it can be played whenever and wherever (consumers are funny creatures when it comes to doing what they like with stuff they’ve bought), RealDVD keeps the disc image intact. Taking a leaf from Apple — and then charging lots of money for it — it even allows up to five computers to be registered so that ripped discs can be watched…

Sony DVDirect DVD Burner – for PC-free burning of your blurry home videos

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The Sony DVDirect DVD Burner is a tool for enthusiasts. It’s something your dad would buy out of a catalogue. It has the appearance of being a labour-saving device, without really making much of a difference.

It connects via USB to your camcorder – or you can pop the memory card into one of its holes. From there, you can dump everything onto a dual-layer DVD, complete with auto-generated DVD menu screens…