Mozaex Blu-ray 3D Offered As Multi-room Option to Users Who Supply Decryption Tool

Mozaex added a 3D option to its line of disc players and media servers, claiming it’s the first company to offer a Blu-ray 3D multi-room solution. Mozaex CEO Douglas Kihm told Consumer Electronics Daily that the servers ship with “only licensed decrypting tools for playing back Blu-ray Discs and DVDs” and not with unlicensed tools that allow playback from a server. Regarding the difference between Mozaex’s approach and those of Kaleidescape and RealNetworks servers that were the subject of copy-control lawsuits brought by the DVD Copy Control Association, Kihm said Mozaex’s products don’t ship with unlicensed decrypting tools. “We ship our products only with licensed decrypting tools for playing back physical DVDs and Blu-rays,” he said.

Mozaex’s position on the legal issue is that direct competitor Kaleidescape was sued because its decrypting tool violated a contract with DVD CCA. “The judge suggested that they're not ruling on whether it’s legal or not for a user to make backup copies,” Kihm said. “There’s still that question.” Mozaex continues to believe that end users have a right under fair use to make a backup copy of a DVD or Blu-ray disc. “How they do it and whether the particular decrypting tool is legal or not is a question that hasn’t been brought to the courts yet,” he said. He cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and said “you cannot make, sell or provide any decrypting circumvention tools,” and added, “It doesn’t say, from our opinion, about whether you can use it. We leave it up to the end user to determine whether they're using the decryption tool legally or not. That still hasn’t been ruled on."

Kihm said the scenario with the company’s media servers are like any PC shipped today with Windows Media Center Edition, which has the ability to share movies if one loads a decrypting tool on the PC. “And that’s what millions of people are doing,” he said. “It’s up to them to use that decrypting tool under the Fair Use Act and whether that decrypting tool is ever considered illegal is anybody’s guess.” Andy Parsons, spokesman for the Blu-ray Disc Association, referred us for comment to Michael Ayers, a spokesman for Advanced Access Copy System license administrator, because the fundamental content protection technology used in the Blu-ray format is licensed directly by AACS LA to manufacturers. Ayers could not be reached by our deadline, nor could Greg Larsen, spokesman for the DVD Copy Control Association.

Mozaex’s strategy places the onus on the customer to add decryption tools that would enable the server to send encrypted movies to other rooms in a home. If a customer decides to load movies onto their Mozaex system, they need to -- “on their own volition and under the observance of any outstanding copyright laws -- “get their own decrypting tool and load that on our box, Kihm said. “The bottom line is we are 100 percent legal because we don’t make, ship or provide anything illegal and we never will,” he said. “With our product, you have to have a disc in a unit to play the disc, but if a customer decides he wants to load a disc and obtain a decrypting tool, they're readily available.” He said the company doesn’t assist or encourage consumers to do it and dealers have to agree on that understanding before products ship. “They take it upon themselves to fully obey the laws and read up on them,” he said.

With the new 3D features -- a $500 add-on option to the company’s Solo product -- consumers need a compatible pair of 3D glasses and TV. The list of certified glasses and TVs is currently being compiled and will be published on the company website. The NVIDIA 3D Vision stereoscopic glasses were the first glasses to be certified compatible. The 3D emitter plugs in to the Mozaex box via USB, Kihm said. In cases of a long run in a typical custom electronics environment, Kihm said, “They should be extendable using IR blasters so it should be fairly easy.” In response to what kind of issues might arise in a long run of HDMI, he said, “HDMI is a huge Pandora’s Box.” The company has an option for a Blu-ray disk drive for remote locations where long cable runs aren’t practical, he said.

Noting that the line of entertainment servers are more than disc players, Kihm said the company will show at CEDIA a new database called Mozi that will provide customers with a way to search, organize, manage, play and share all media “wherever they are.” The Mozaex servers support roughly 30 platforms in addition to discs, he said, including music formats, photo sharing sites, TV sites and more, and the company has developed a “platform transportable interface” that will make it transparent for consumers to find the media they're looking for easily whether on disc, on the server or on an online music collection -- and regardless of playback device, he said.