Digital Rights Nightmare (DRN???)

With DVD's supposedly going the way of the VHS, the push for higher definition video is on. With the new and improved resolution, comes "new and improved" copy protection schemes. It seems that the new scheme for the next generation of media will be HDCP, or Hi-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. This system will be necessary for hi-def playback of the new HD-DVD or Blu-Ray discs. Basically this system allows for every piece of the system to protect the videostream, from the source, to the display itself. What this means is that without "DHCP Compliant" TV's/graphic cards/monitors and everything inbetween, nobody will be able to get the full benefit of this new media. Now, while this sounds like a technical limitation, it is not. There are many HDTV's and other hardware devices (such as computers) out there that can display the full resolution of the media but will not, because the video will be downscaled to 540p. 540p will be only 25% of the full resolution that these discs support. That's a pretty noticeable difference. It also means that all analog outputs will also be downscaled to the smaller resolution. But it is not guaranteed that you will even be able to output an analog signal at all in the future. You will need to use a digital output such as DVI or HDMI. Another article that describes a few of the personal computer problems in greater detail can be found here, and shows just how complicated it's going to get. The average consumer is not going to care about all of this stuff. They are just going to get angry because they are seeing no benefit with this "New Fangled DVD". How about the fact that just because your graphics chipset says that it is compliant, doesn't mean that your graphics card will be compliant. According to this article most(if not all) of the graphics cards produced in the last few years that have advertised themselves as HDCP compliant will not be.

Well, why don't companies just make their hardware/software HDCP compliant you ask? As with most of the major DRM attempts, this technology will need to be licensed. The controlling corporation for this particular technology will be Digital Content Protection, LLC. The current HDCP specifications can be found in this PDF. What will this mean for open source software? I doubt they will be able to include this software and still be open source. I fail to see how this system is making things better for the consumer at all.

Another great concern is with the DMCA, which currently trumps all fair use rights and copyright terms. Even if the copyright expires on an item of Intellectual Property, then it will eternally be legally protected by the copy protection mechanisms.

Another big problem for HDCP is that there a several known problems with the system. A paper was published in 2001 detailing the flaw, which as far as I can tell still exist. How long will it be before some hacker (yes, hacker... NOT cracker) bypasses this system just like CSS for DVD's?

I for one hope that the inherent problems and complexity of this system will show itself early in the game. This will hopefully cause a consumer backlash that will stop this system in it's tracks. I'm sure that when John Smith finds out that the HDTV he bought 6 months ago cannot play the new HD-DVD resolution, and that he will have to buy an entire new TV to see the benefits of the new HD-DVD player he just bought, he's going to be pretty angry. How long is it until we see a future so encumbered with digital rights management that it will resemble something like this? It seems that so much progress is being hindered by DRM and IP (intellectual property) legislation. Why would any consumer want a system so complex and resource intensive when we just want a better looking movie? If it were not for these roadblocks I think we would be watching HD-DVD's right now. Making more complex and expensive players is not good for the consumer in any way.

P.S.
I'm sorry for all the links in the article, as there is a plethora of reading there, but this is a complex issue. Anyway, I've already spent too much time on this issue. I am waiting to see how this one plays out.