FYI – I don’t know about yours, but my public library has a great movie collection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government

This happens all the time here in Brazil.

Space that the majors waste with this crap and could be used for extras or other cool stuff that could turns their products even more profitable, as people would pay for this.

Expect in future things like the “used game protection” that the  PS4 and the next XBOX’ll implement: you’ll not be able to play a game that was bought for someone. The game disc will be associated to a specific console, and will not run on any other.

Why Blackwater was not imprisioned as mass murder?
Why MAFIAA was not imprisioned for conspiracy and fraud?
Exxon? S&P? etc.. etc…

Or you can buy the DVD, leave it wrapped, and torrent an unencrypted version if it helps your conscience. For myself, every DVD I’ve ever bought has had it’s first stop in the PC since PCs were fast enough to rip real-time.

http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pirateddvd1.png?54b313

TV shows from the 80′s aren’t going to look vastly better in HD vs. SD.

I’m not sure what you are even asking…

Bit-for-bit IS identical to the original…and really the original is already compressed.  It’s not like you are starting with an uncompressed/lossless original.  If done well and using the correct settings you shouldn’t see much if any change from the original.  However to achieve that you might only save 30% of the original file size.  In order to achieve some of the bit rates that torrented videos use you are going to have to sacrifice some level of quality for the reduction in file size.

In the end it is simply trading off downloading 20+gigs or 8 gigs.  Besides it’s not like anyone is paying to torrent movies….

I see 10-15 movies a year in the theater (I watch hundreds a year at home) and while I can recall seeing anti-piracy ads, it was maybe only once or twice, and a few years ago. I’ve seen movies in theaters in several different states (primarily NY and CA) and even other countries so I doubt it’s a regional thing.

I’ll admit I could just be mentally screening them out; I enjoy the movie trailers but my eyes gloss over for everything else. But I saw The Avengers last Friday and while there was an inordinate number of pre-roll ads and trailers, I definitely didn’t see an anti-piracy ad.

Sure I don’t see why it’s not possible.  I don’t use all-in-one programs like HandBrake, just cause I like having more control over the whole process.  In general I compress a standard DVD (4-6 gig rip) down to around 1-1.5 gig using MeGui into a MKV file with H.264 compression and MP3 sound (cause I don’t have a 5.1 system hooked up currently).  So depending on what formats and the like you are looking at storing a blu-ray on it shouldn’t be hard to do 6G (at 1080P, 720 would be less).  Obviously depending on the movie length and type it might vary between 4+ to say 8 or more.

It also matters in how you want to play the video back as well. If you are using a PC or pc like device then you have a fairly broad collection fo file containers and formats. If you want a DVD/Blu-Ray player that will play a video file, then it needs to be formatted in a more specific way. Sometimes this means sacrificing potential quality/space for compatibility.

He does his best work under someone else “hampering his vision”.

I compress dvd’s down to around 1gig, which looks and works fine on my TV.  Obviously YMMV.  Now if I really liked the movie and wanted to watch it over and over I’d buy the DVD/Blu- ray.