[GadgetDon]

Unfortunately, just about any high def input (other than over the air and cable/satellite) will have the same issue. What size is your TV? Unless it's huge (50" or larger), you may not notice the difference. And it is great having 100 movies available at whim. (Yes, I've been busy with Handbrake.)

[david_w_b]

adobephobe - you obviously see the world in black and white which is great if you are the pastor of a Puritan church but not so great for living in the real world. The claim that Apple's use of HDCP will increase piracy is based on a very simple and real truth that is time tested in other markets.
Say I'm a typical law abiding Mac owner (which I am) and I've just bought a new MacBook which I intend, from time to time, to connect to my 1st generation HiDef TV to watch iTunes movies and TV shows. I've been doing this for well over a year now with my old PowerBook and love it.
The first time I connect the TV and MacBook to watch a movie I get an error message, then I update my QT and now can play the media but not in HD, just in SD. I'm not happy and after a little research I discover that my TV doesn't support HDCP. To do what I used to do will require that I replace either my TV or my computer - both will run $1000. Not possible.
Talking about this problem the next day one of my coworkers tells me about Bit Torrents and how I can download almost anything. Another one tells me about HandBrake which can rip almost any DVD. Both solutions are free and while HandBrake isn't giving me HD content, I don't really care because iTunes has let me down and Hollywood has ticked me off. Both are unintended side affects of the misguided HDCP system which is bad enough but the downloaded files I get using Bit Torrents ARE HD and I CAN use them with my computer and older TV. This means the pirated content is more valuable to me than the REAL content I'd be willing to pay for if I weren't treated like a criminal.
The use of DRM not only makes pirated content more valuable to a user than the real content but the restrictions it places on law abiding users actually sets up the psychology for leading them to test the pirate waters. Not a good combination. And that's how Apple's adoption of HDCP will lead to more piracy. Oh, and BTW, my use of first person was for instructional purposes only.

[ibeetle]

pdbreske said:

How will the use of HDCP DRM affect the Apple TV?

This should not effect you at all. The Apple TV does not use the Mini Display port. This effects people who use their new MacBook as the video source.

iTunes purchase to AppleTV, or Desktop to AppleTV, or AppleTV direct download would not be effected by this particular DRM.

Basically, the copy write holders are requiring a DRM for Tab A that will not fit in Slot B.

[stephenrea]

Is Apple's new 24" display HDCP compliant?

[ballouja]

This is a profoundly mistaken view. The EFF targets Apple because Apple has one of the most visible electronic media stores and Apple is in a position to bargain with content providers over their use of DRM and HDCP. Just as Amazon has created an mp3 store that is free of DRM, Apple can use its weight as a media powerhouse (even though its movie and television stores have not been as successful as its music business) to persuade the media companies to change their ways. Furthermore, this was a conscious choice by Apple to include content protection on their new hardware--the previous laptops and the current Mac desktops have no such "protection." Feel free to claim that Apple is completely innocent, but this is a naive view.

[Hairby]

Who honestly needs this junk in their living room, it does not make films any better or worse than they are in standard DVD format, who cares if the picture looks great on a 50 inch screen. Never mind the acting the story line the directing, the marketing men tell us you need a huge house with a huge living room and a huge TV for movies to be good!.... and in ten years you will need 3d hi def and then super 3d hi def etc etc
Vote with your wallets don't buy it!!

[ibeetle]

david

The first time I connect the TV and MacBook to watch a movie I get an error message, then I update my QT and now can play the media but not in HD, just in SD. I'm not happy and after a little research I discover that my TV doesn't support HDCP. To do what I used to do will require that I replace either my TV or my computer - both will run $1000. Not possible.

Unfortunately, Apple will tell you buy a AppleTV, and do not use your Powerbook as the video source.

And the content copy write holders will tell you that you do not have a licence to view that content on anything other than the device that it was originally intended and sold for. And that license can be altered, changed or completely revoked at any time they so choose.

Unfortunately, more and more peoples response is a Netflix account and a copy of Handbrake or Bit Torrents.

[hayesk]

ballouja said:

Feel free to claim that Apple is completely innocent, but this is a naive view.

I think you over-exaggerate Apple's negotiating power. Apple may and is getting away with it for music, but Apple doesn't own the movie industry. They're still a minor player compared to blockbuster, Netflix, and retail sales.

Why would Apple want users not to be able to play their content on any display?

[folklore]

adobephile said:

This article is stupid. It's like saying putting locks on doors leads to more burglaries. NOT. BURGLARS lead to more burglaries. PIRATES lead to more piracy. HDCP is simply a "lock on a door", a reasonable impediment, a few steps better than NO impediment, to unethical people copying higher-quality content.

>

Quote

No, you can't legislate/enforce/restrict/DRM people into being "good." But you also don't just throw up you hands and say "To h3ll with it!" and do nothing.

I'll admit that I'm not as up to date on HDCP as I am other DRM schemes, but what, exactly, does HDCP seek to prevent? It sounds to me like HDCP can only prevent authorized users from using unauthorized displays. Perhaps I'm just remarkably dense, but I don't see how that is a "reasonable impediment" to piracy. HDCP looks like an unreasonable impediment to authorized users displaying their content. While not ideal, I recognize the business case for some DRM. I cannot understand why anyone would want to stop authorized users from displaying their content, however.

Furthermore, the reasoning behind increased piracy as a result of HDCP is pretty simple: If a user cannot display purchased content, but he can display pirated content, why on Earth would he purchase content? If that user wants the content and wants to display it, piracy may be the only choice.

A while ago, there was a video starring Jack Black that had the tagline, "iTunes: it's easier than stealing." That is the problem with this sort of DRM. When purchasing via iTunes (or insert your favorite digital method here) is easier than stealing, more people will purchase. When stealing is easier than purchasing, more people will steal.

[hayesk]

adobephile said:

This article is stupid. It's like saying putting locks on doors leads to more burglaries. NOT. BURGLARS lead to more burglaries. PIRATES lead to more piracy. HDCP is simply a "lock on a door", a reasonable impediment, a few steps better than NO impediment, to unethical people copying higher-quality content.

Well, your analogy would hold if you mentioned that depending on what type of house you have, the lock might not even work if you have the key. You're missing the problem - HDCP is preventing legitimate purchasers of the content to use it. That will encourage them to piracy - whether or not it is right or wrong.

In my opinion, if you pirate, you send the message to the MPAA that you're just a pirate. If you go without the movie entirely and let them know it, it will send a bigger message.

[GadgetDon]

HDCP was designed to block the "analog hole". Even if you have an absolutely uncrackable audio DRM, someone can hook up a recorder to the output of a playback device, and convert it to digital. Even if you have an absolutely uncrackable video DRM, someone can hook up a recorder and digitize it.

And to be fair, no one has yet cracked HDCP so far as I know, there is no way to record a video by capturing the HDCP output of something. Except that much of the reason, I suspect, is that the DRMs have all been cracked. On the PC, there are a number of tools for ripping Blu-Ray and HD-DVD disks.

So, to bring back the locks analogy from earlier in this discussion, HDCP is a high-security corridor from one building to another, with multiple locks, biometric scans, deathtraps for those who don't pass. Except the doors to the builds are combination locks with the combination of 1-2-3.

[erictbar]

This article is a little too late
http://www.macrumors...ition-playback/

[folklore]

GadgetDon said:

HDCP was designed to block the "analog hole". Even if you have an absolutely uncrackable audio DRM, someone can hook up a recorder to the output of a playback device, and convert it to digital. Even if you have an absolutely uncrackable video DRM, someone can hook up a recorder and digitize it.

Ah. That makes sense. One could capture the digital stream from the device to the display, re-encode it, and distribute it hither and tither if the stream itself weren't DRM'ed all to hell and back. And with a digital stream, you wouldn't even lose any quality (as you would making a copy of a copy of an analog source).

Still though. It seems overly restrictive to not allow authorized users to display their content.

[Hurley42]

DVD + HandBrake = no worries.