Geek Trivia: An Early Attempt To Combat VHS Tape Piracy Involved What?

Case Locks Green Cassette Doors Acid Packs Clear Video Ribbons geek-trivia-an-early-attempt-to-combat-vhs-tape-piracy-involved-what photo 1

geek-trivia-an-early-attempt-to-combat-vhs-tape-piracy-involved-what photo 2

Answer: Green Cassette Doors

Modern anti-piracy methods rely strongly on sophisticated encryption schemes and an ever progressing arms race between movie studios and pirates. Back in the days of VHS tapes however, anti-piracy measures relied on holograms and green cassette doors. More accurately, you could say, anti-piracy measures really relied on public goodwill.

For the 1988 release of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, MCA Home Video added several features to indicate to the public that they were getting an authentic high-quality original release. Each E.T. VHS tape had a green cassette door, green tape hubs at the center of each spool, and a large Universal Studios holographic label on the tape view window.

Despite the failure of the colored plastic and holograms to actually do much in the way of deterring piracy, E.T. went on to become one of the best selling home videos of the 1980s.

Article Geek Trivia: An Early Attempt To Combat VHS Tape Piracy Involved What? compiled by Original article here

More stories

Windows 8.1 Guide: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Modern technology is overflowing with operating systems. Android, iOS, and Blackberry are all examples of mobile operating systems while Chrome OS, Apple OS X and, of course, Windows are classified as desktop operating systems. The primary role of an operating system should be simply defined, but as

Desktop Fun: Dragonflies Wallpaper Collection Series 1

Dragonflies are beautiful to look at with their variety of colors and awesome to watch as they flit back and forth. While away lazy summer afternoons with these gentle masters of the air on your desktop with the first in our series of Dragonflies Wallpaper collections.

First Round of Ubuntu 14.10 Alphas are Available for Download

Work on the latest version of Ubuntu continues to move forward and now the first set of alpha releases is available for download. So pull out the blank DVDs, because this weekend is the perfect time to grab copies of the new alpha and indulge in some 14.10 goodness!

Minecraft Guide: Exploring Minecraft Multiplayer Servers

You can lead a full and happy Minecraft life just building by yourself or sticking to local multiplayer, but the size and variety of hosted remote Minecraft servers is pretty staggering and they offer all manner of new experiences.