Dave Emery[SMTP:die@die.com] wrote:
On Fri, May 31, 2002 at 08:59:43PM -0500, Neil Johnson wrote:
Remember it only requires ONE high-quality non-watermarked analog to digital copy to make it on the net and it's all over.
And that is what this whole nonsensical scheme founders on.
There are probably 300-500 million existing sound cards out there and at least millions of existing NTSC analog capture cards. Many if not most can do acceptable fidelity conversion of analog audio and video to digital formats if programmed correctly. And there are even a few tens of thousands (or more) of new generation PCI cards that capture ATSC digital video (including HDTV) direct to disk in the clear.
The MPAA cannot will these out of existance.
The MPAA does not have to 'will them out of existance', or even make them illegal. They plan to change the broadcast standard so they are not supported. At least, this is my interpretation: The FCC has mandated a change to all-digital formats over the next 5 years or so. After that, analog (NTSC) transmission will be phased out. There is currently a lot of work being done within the BPDG (Broadcast Protection Discussion Group) to provide watermark checking, cryptographic and physical protection of digital video and audio data all the way to the display device, and forbid 'complying devices' from having accessible unencrypted outputs or busses. There are even proposals that if a 'complying device' is found to be hackable, that there should be a backdoor to enable the manufacturer to modify or disable it remotely. Until these standards are settled one way or the other, anyone buying digital video equipment (HDTV or otherwise) runs a very substantial risk of finding themselves with a set of expensive and otherwise useless doorstops. Progress and innovation in electronics will occur only at the whim (and in the interest) of the entertainment industry. Check out the BPDG documents at http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/cat_bpdg_drafts.html Peter Trei Disclaimer: The above is my opinion only, and should not be misconstrued to represent the opinions of others.