High-def copy protection could be delayed until at least 2010
There's a strong possibility that copy protection measures designed to stop high-def DVD piracy may be delayed until at least 2010.
German news source Spiegel Online has reported that an 'unofficial agreement' has been made between Hollywood and major hardware manufacturers, including Sony and Microsoft.
Image Constraint Token (ICT) is a copy-protection scheme standardised by the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) which forces a downgrade of high-definition video content if it is routed through anything other than a copy-proof HDMI connection.
This means that HD films will be playable on any PC or high-def TV/monitor that does not have an HDMI interface, and playable from a high-def DVD player that does not output on HDMI - including the low-end Playstation 3 and the XBox HD DVD drive.
Unfortunately, this issue will not go away, and I have a horrible feeling it will lead to a mixture of schemes, with some DVDs being encoded with protection and others not. Look at the mess surrounding Sony's CD protection techniques and it doesn't take much pessimistic imagination to see similar things happening for HD.
