LAS VEGAS - LionsGate films has stood behind Blu-ray for a surprising reason, according to Don Reisinger in his C|Net blog on Thursday. It’s because Blu-ray offers more robust encryption and anti-piracy support. However, Mr. Reisinger wrote that that’s an awful reason to support Blu-ray and the LionsGate COO is off track.

In an encounter with LionsGate COO Steve Beeks, Mr. Reisinger asked just why that studio supports Blu-ray: "Expecting the canned answer like, ’well we thought it was the superior format and I’m happy to say that we were right’, you could imagine my surprise when the very first reason he gave was Blu-ray’s piracy controls."

In the ensuing conversation, Mr. Beeks appeared to contradict himself. The studio executive admitted that there’s no way to stop piracy completely, and the way to not look like a bully is to offer features and incentives for the buyer to buy the official version.

So if that’s true, then why the focus on Blu-ray’s anti-piracy technologies, AACS, BD+ and BD-ROM Mark. "After all, if you know how to fight piracy and you think you’re doing a good job at it, why waste your time paying more for a format when you can have the same sort of features on the other and pay less to manufacture discs?" Mr. Reisinger asked.

The conclusion was the studio executives have no clue about the technologies or what drives customers. "I have said it once and I will say it again: the music and movie industries have become relics of the old school and are unwilling to adapt to times... If nothing else, I learned that the movie industry is run by a subset of individuals who are totally insulated from the real world," the C|Net blogger concluded.