[opendtv] News: MacBook Owners Up In Arms About New Copyright Software
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:37:38 -0500
http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/20/apple-macbooks-copyright-tech-cx_pco_1120paidcontent.html?partner=alerts
MacBook Owners Up In Arms About New Copyright Software
Tameka Kee, 11.20.08, 06:00 AM EST
Apple is bundling a form of copyright protection software into new
MacBooks that has some buyers up in arms.
Called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), the
technology prevents MacBook owners from playing movies they've
purchased through iTunes on many external monitors, TVs or
projectors--meaning they're stuck watching flicks they've paid for on
much smaller screens.
HDCP is designed to prevent film piracy by blocking the connection
between a computer and a copying device like a DVR. The problem is
that legitimate devices like TVs--particularly older units--also get
blocked in the process.
It also doesn't help that manufacturers like Apple, Panasonic and
Sony aren't forthcoming about which products they're adding the
technology to. Even Microsoft's Vista and Windows Media Center have
varying degrees of HDCP compliance.
Wired says Intel bowed the technology back in 2001, but Apple began
quietly embedding it in new MacBooks this year as a way to appease
Hollywood studios wary of licensing content to iTunes. Since iTunes
files get downloaded right to a user's hard drive, a film could
feasibly be burned to a DVD and recopied ad nauseum.
Analysts say that's why the iTunes movie library is anemic in
comparison to the libraries of Netflix or Vudu-which don't let users
store the files.
Apple hasn't released any statements addressing the issue.
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