The DVD War Against Consumers

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://yahoo.businessweek.com/techno...526_680075.htm

The real battle isn't between Sony and Microsoft and their chosen formats, it's between the manufacturers and us -- the consumers, the ones who ultimately pay for it all. And the battle is over Digital Rights Management (DRM), because in addition to increased storage, these new disks are packed full of copy-protection functions, some of which impair our ability to use the content we pay for, the way we like and are legally entitled to.

[James OClaire]

Yeah, I've run into some ridiculous copy right protection things lately! I couldn't install a game I PAYED for because I had an emulator on my computer. PshhhH!

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Ugh...

That article should not have been published... So much of it is just wrong and/or outdated.

The DRM schemes of both HD-DVD and BluRay are nearly identical. This whole paranoia over Sony's BD+ is nonsense. Actually, some of what people fear is possible, but I think most are not realizing that HD-DVD can do just about everything that BluRay can (in terms of copy protection) and as far as DRM and extreme protection is concerned (locking out players and/or certain production series of various discs, etc..) HD-DVD can do that too.

Why not discuss something more relevent... Like how studios are all in unanimous agreement and close to making official that resolution constraint over analog (component) outputs won't be enforced until 2012? Or what about the fact that BluRay also allows Managed Copy functions for loading your BD movies onto media servers?

I'm not sure what the point of that article was... Seems to me like the author is just against delivery of HD content on disc media. While not picking a side in the article, it's hard to lend credit to anything written therein when so much of it is info that was being speculated on MONTHS ago and much has proven to be untrue... Besides, Mr. Holtzman proves once again that he really doesn't have a clue about the topics he writes on when he can't even correctly identify the two driving interests behind the competing formats. ...It's Toshiba, not Microsoft. More specifically, BD vs. HDDVD is Sony + 40% of Hollywood vs. Toshiba, 35% of Hollywood and the DVD Consortium. Microsoft is neutral even though they have chosen HDDVD for their XBOX 360 HD add-on. BD and HDDVD are both losing exclusive backing from Hollywood studios as more are starting to convert to a supporting both formats policy. It's cheap to manufacture the media and the studios make their money by selling product, not by chosing sides in an undecided war.

Just as what happened in the VHS vs. Beta "war", the consumer will be presented with the choice of two formats for their movies with most movies being delivered on both types of discs. Sony's own releases will obviously be only on BluRay. It may take a year or so to reach this point, but this is the most likely scenario. In the end, because both disc types are the same form-factor and because Sony's licensing for BluRay is already being challenged in court, we probably won't see a dominant format for a long time, if ever. We will probably see universal players - especially as blue laser units continue to plummet in price and size.