What can I do if I get a movie that is encrypted?

I have a movie and it is not working on KMP.

This message appears on the screen:

the video is encrypted
please download codec

How can I handle this?

izaan

Posted 2011-02-08T13:05:18.677

Reputation: 45

2for those of you flagging this for deletion: see Sathya's answer, this is a net good for the internet, otherwise there are more people with compromised machines in botnets.. – Jeff Atwood – 2011-02-09T05:39:22.857

Answers

"the video is encrypted please download codec" this message appears on the screen.

Happens for most illegally acquired movies which require that you install a "decrypter" which is in reality a Trojan Horse.

My advice: Delete it, and purchase the DVD/CD/Blu-Ray or stream it from somewhere legal.

Sathyajith Bhat

Posted 2011-02-08T13:05:18.677

Reputation: 58 436

4Enrypted files needing a download to view them.... Run a mile. – Joe Taylor – 2011-02-08T13:16:30.727

4agree, any file with this kind of warning is extremely dangerous and people need to be warned. – Jeff Atwood – 2011-02-09T05:39:40.343

It means the codec for this particular movie is not installed. Try opening it with VLC. That one opens almost every movie file without needing any codec (they're built-in).

fretje

Posted 2011-02-08T13:05:18.677

Reputation: 10 524

I'd agree 'if' the op made it sound like it was coming from a popup. However it seems more like Sathya is correct as the op's response suggests the message is in the 'screen'. – Pricey – 2011-02-08T14:40:25.483

@Price: I don't know... for me, it seems like the OP means that his media player (in this case KMP) is showing him this message. I'm still no seasoned mind-reading ninja ;-) – fretje – 2011-02-08T15:03:02.437

If the video file consists of two folders, in which one of them is a Video TS folder, you can decrypt them using DVDFab. You can then convert the decrypted Video TS folder to a single file, such as an mp4, using handbrake.

David

Posted 2011-02-08T13:05:18.677

Reputation: 6 975

As Sathya said, it is probably a trick to get you to download a trojan/virus/other malware. However, there are certain ways to encrypt perfectly legitimate and normal videos with DRM licensing. This allows people to share the file all they want, but only those with a proper license are able to decrypt and view it.

That said, the OP was not clear on some things--Is this movie on a DVD? Is it a file? Was it downloaded? And so on. On the assumption it was a file downloaded from the Internet, I can see two likely cases:

The video is a fake that displays that message, trying to get you to download the decryption codec, which itself is most likely a torjan/virus, or,
It's a DRM protected video, in which case, you'd need to obtain a valid license in order to view it. This often involves going to the website of the licensor and doing what they require. Unfortunately, many such setups are, again, scams/trojans/viruses/etc, and should simply be avoided.

My suggestion would be download MediaInfo (available on sourfeforge), and use it to determine what the exact contents of the video file are, whether it is licensed (licensed videos are often licensed with "vidlock" encryption, for example), or whether you truly need a different codec. You can also find (via Google) and download the K-Lite codec pack, which includes the majority of popular/common audio and video codecs, and has the advantage of being well-known and reasonably trusted to not be malware.

C. M.

Posted 2011-02-08T13:05:18.677

Reputation: 687