1) Prevent copies from being leaked
2) Trace leaks if they happen
Watermarks are actually great for the first goal. They are big, ugly, and obvious. This discourages people from leaking. If they do leak it's crystal clear they're taking a huge risk. This is also why the DVD screener is low-res SD.
HBO already tracked down where the leak came from. Whatever methods they have in place to do so were successful. Thus any complains about watermarks being ineffective at goal #2 are irrelevant.
Have you seen the topic discussed on the Internet? I looked for it and I haven't, so I simply started it. Given the score of the submission and the number of comments, that goal is reached. I learned a lot from other comments and I'm happy.
> HBO already tracked down where the leak came from.
Normally I'm the one complaining about typical HN comments. However given the blog post was titled "Game of Thrones leak and watermark: a stupid tracking system" I felt that leading with "This is a stupid blog post" to be a fair and amusing twist.
“Sadly, it seems the leaked four episodes of the upcoming season of Game of Thrones originated from within a group approved by HBO to receive them,” the spokesperson said. “We’re actively assessing how this breach occurred.”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/game-of-thrones-season-5...
They've at least narrowed the leak down to be from inside HBO. They may not have it down to an individual just yet. Their internal process may need some work.
Ah, I feel dumb for not catching it. It is fair indeed.
About the article: that's not what I understand...
> a group approved by HBO to receive [the episodes]
What I understand is that the leak did not come from HBO but from one of their service providers or journalists or anything like that. Am I missing something?
Ah, you're right on the leak source. I over read "within". Sadly if they do pinpoint who leaked the copy I'm not sure it'll ever become public knowledge.
HBO has had DVD screener leaks before. If they all have the same watermark and the watermark is the only tracking info they have then, for all the reasons you put out, that'd just be silly.
1) Prevent copies from being leaked 2) Trace leaks if they happen
Watermarks are actually great for the first goal. They are big, ugly, and obvious. This discourages people from leaking. If they do leak it's crystal clear they're taking a huge risk. This is also why the DVD screener is low-res SD.
HBO already tracked down where the leak came from. Whatever methods they have in place to do so were successful. Thus any complains about watermarks being ineffective at goal #2 are irrelevant.