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ecrabb
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Joined: 13 Mar 2006
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Location: Utah
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| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:50 pm Post subject: Here's an interesting Blu-ray statistic... |
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...and the resulting ideas for the solution.
From this week's Video Business periodical...
Bolding is what I find kind of interesting/funny.
| Quote: | Retailers on guard against Blu-ray theft
EMA, others aim to keep high-def software safe
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/16/2009
JAN. 16 | As Blu-ray Discs grow in popularity, the slim boxes with the premium price also are growing more popular with thieves. This is creating a new challenge for retailers, who want to keep the new format easily accessible for customers but also want to guard against shrink.
Target has begun stocking Blu-ray titles in security casings in several hundred stores, while sources said that Blu-ray titles are being locked in secure displays in at least one southern California Wal-Mart store.
“We are using extra means of protection for Blu-ray titles,” Target spokesman Joshua Thomas said. “Our asset protection team is constantly monitoring theft trends, and we want to protect our merchandising and have titles on shelves that guests are looking for.”
He adds that so far, Target is pleased with the security implementation as “these protective devices are an effective means to deter theft in our stores.”
The Entertainment Merchants Assn. is working on solutions that prevent theft and provide simple access to titles. One problem with locked “keeper” cases, which are also often used in videogames merchandising, is that they can prevent purchases with consumers who don’t want to wait for employee assistance.
Sources indicate that the Blu-ray theft rate, the percentage of titles stolen compared to total sales, could be as high as double-digits for certain retailers. This compares to a 1.5% average for standard DVD, according to EMA.
“I guess the good news is that shrink wouldn’t be so heavy if there wasn’t demand, so it means that this is a format that is in demand,” said Mark Fisher, EMA VP of strategic initiatives. “But if you look at shrink as a measure of sales with a still-growing category, it looks like the shrink is growing at a faster pace than sales.”
EMA will release its first Blu-ray theft statistics later this year, as it works on ‘Project Lazarus,’ a program exploring new security technology that will satisfy retailers but won’t necessarily curb consumer interest for Blu-ray.
“The fewer barriers that exist for the consumer to get to the product, the better off sales are going to be for the product,” said Fisher. “Consumers don’t want to have the potential aggravation to wait at check out for someone to open a keeper case.”
Also, the Blu-ray theft threat is leading certain retailers to consider lightening their orders of the product, according to sources.
“What some retailers are doing is bringing in less,” said one wholesale distribution source. “The industry needs to embrace Blu-ray, but theft is an issue. We need retailers to support it, but not at the price of having it all stolen.”
EMA is already evaluating one possible non-keeper/non-glass-wall solution, created by the company Aequitas Innovation. The technology revolves around an RFID-controlled ‘button’ that is locked to the disc inside the package. Upon being scanned at retailers’ registers, the buttons are unlocked, and only then can consumers take the disc out of the package for viewing. People should find it impossible to pry stolen discs off package hubs that use the Aequitas button system before it is unlocked.
Adding a button to a Blu-ray title should cost less than 20¢ a unit.
EMA’s Fisher hopes to have the Aequitas technology involved in late-2009 retail pilots. Aequitas is eyeing widespread retail rollout in 2010.
“This is a fairly big improvement,” said Paul Atkinson, Aequitas president and CEO. “Employee theft is a big problem, and only authorized staff will have access to the RFID scanners to unlock the button keys.”
Atkinson believes that the technology is tough but still soft enough not to scare away customers.
“This will get rid of that scotch tape on discs that drives us nuts,” he said. “We spend all this money to create attractive packaging, but then we go and wrap them in packaging designed to keep people away from them.”
He also hopes that Aequitas’ technology will encourage more paper-based environmentally friendly packaging, which makes the cases particularly vulnerable to theft because of their light, slim design.
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Let's see... People want something..... But, they don't want to pay what you're asking... Hmmmm.... I wonder if maybe the price is a little high?!?!!?
We all know how well the current theft prevention works - the doodads that have to be rubbed on the counter to deactivate them. I don't even bother stopping anymore when the damn things go off. Anyway, now we can drive back to the store when the freakin' RFID button doesn't unlock and can't watch the movie we wanted to watch that night - all because the equipment fails or because the minimum wage high school kid doesn't push the right button on the register. That, or start opening the damn discs in the parking lot before you leave the store. Oh, and we'll get to pay 20 cents for the privilege. F'in thieves.
Sigh.
SC
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10270
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Theft, huh. I guess Amazon wins on that front, and again on price.
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Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't seen any of that around here yet. Blu-rays in the stores around me are on shelves right next to the DVD's with no funny anti-theft devices.
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AnalogRocks
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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RFID button, drill press?
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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RFID on the disk itself seems reasonable. Aren't factory content disks formed by sandwiching to plastic layers with the content in between? Then a label is placed on top. Underneath this label could be used for RFID.
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AnalogRocks
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| Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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It's not a label. It's silkscreen or pad printed on the disk. Plus I'd worry about disk ballance with an RFID tag hanging off to one side.
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10270
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| Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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The current size of RFID tags is 0.4mm x 0.4mm. I wonder if this can be embedded in the top plastic layer.
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scir16v
Joined: 02 Jan 2009
Posts: 113
Location: St. Louis
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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Do think that man can't figure out how to circumvent theft protection devices???????
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jask
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 10187
Location: kamloops BC
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| scir16v wrote: | | Do think that man can't figure out how to circumvent theft protection devices??????? |
lead foil film pouch......
I noticed a couple weeks ago that a local pawn shop had about 20 current BR titles in wrappers on the shelf 
so I bought the Planet Earth set for 40$ and then I took it home and played it on a non HDCP compliant device... if Hollywood has a hell I guess I'm going there.
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