The death sentence to analog video was recently revealed; hidden in the 188 page AACS licensing document backed by notables such as Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba and Sony. They want more of your money, so be prepared to fork it over!
The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is a standard for content distribution and digital rights management, intended to restrict access to and copying of optical discs and DVD’s. The specification was publicly released in April 2005 and the standard had been adopted as the access restriction scheme for Blu-Ray DVD’s. It was developed by AACS Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), a consortium that includes Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba and Sony.
Up until recently, AACS had been operating under an “interim agreement” but on June 5, 2009, released the “Final Adopter Agreement” which it plans to enforce against the manufacturers of BluRay players (and any other AACS devices that come along). Buried inside the 188 page document is a plan to forever eliminate analog video. Under this new agreement, BluRay players will have to restrict analog outputs to low resolution.
Section 2.2.2.1 of the agreement referred to as “Analog Sunset – 2010″ states that with the exception of existing models, any Licensed Player manfactured after December 31, 2010 shall limit analog video outputs for Decrypted AACS Content to SD Interlace Modes (composite video, s-video, 480i component video and 576i video) only.
Section 2.2.2.2 of “Analog Sunset – 2013″ States that no Licensed Player that passes Decrypted AACS Content to analog video outputs may be manufactured or sold after December 31, 2013.
The AACS licensing agreement also contains a requirement that studios include managed copy on Blu-ray discs which means that virtually all Blu-ray discs released after the first quarter of 2010 will offer consumers the ability to make one full-resolution backup copy, however, before the final license takes effect, studios, manufacturers and others who license Blu-ray must approve it.
In addition, content owners will be in tight control of the backups made. Studios can choose to charge for the copy and can offer, or sell, additional copies.
Initially, managed copies can be made on recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, saved as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive, on a memory stick, SD card or as a bound copy, such as a digital copy file on the disc.
Downloads to iPods, iPhones and other Apple devices have not been approved, and the AACS-LA has not received a submission from Apple to make Blu-ray copies to Apple devices, though Apple could apply at any time. The final AACS license allows for additional copying formats to be added.
The way managed copy is expected to work is that a consumer would insert their disc in a Blu-ray player and the disc’s menu would include an option to make a managed copy or the consumer might have to press some buttons on their Blu-ray device to make a copy. Once the option is chosen to make a copy, the Blu-ray player connects online to an authorization server. The authorization server then gives the go-ahead to make a copy.
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i don’t know how Steve can just stand up there and lie by saying the best web experience and better than a laptop. with no flash support, you are missing more than half the internet. why couldnt you just make a tablet with a slim down version of osx steve?
I had a Curve and a BOLD. I loved my Bold but decided to test an iPhone just to finally satisfy my curiosity. Within 2 hours I knew I was not going back. I was AT&T already so that didn’t matter and in the NE AT&T service is very good. The UI and OS on the Berry is beyond tired. I absolutely love my iphone partly because i was an iPod addict to begin with and now I have that integrated with my phone and also because it has been a strong business device as well. I’m a busy sales person and find plenty to like about the iPhone. Also, I just laughed out loud when i read about someone else being sick of the battery pulls? I almost forgot about that insanity. Not even a thought with the iPhone. I’m never going back and can’t wait to see iPhone 4.0. Even bought a Mac since my switch. Steve Jobs’ brainwashing master plan worked like a charm on me and I couldn’t be happier.