High-Definition DVD Sounds Worse Than Ever

More bad news about high-definition DVD. A report from Network Solutions ex-CTO David Holtzman in BusinessWeek is noting that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players include a system that will downgrade your video if you don't hook it up to a proprietary DRM system that Intel developed called AACS (Advanced Access Content System).

It gets worse. From the article: Blu-ray, however, goes beyond the AACS, incorporating two other protection mechanisms: The ROM Mark is a cryptographic element overlaid on a "legitimate" disk. If the player doesn't detect the mark, then it won't play the disc. This will supposedly deal with video-camera-in-the-theatre copies.

There are so many troubling things about this that I don't know where to start. The biggest is that there will be plenty of legitimate high-definition content that may or may not have the AACS ROM Mark. High-definition camcorders (from Sony, even, which is also behind Blu-ray) are already on the market, after all, and it's only a matter of time before you can burn your own Blu-ray discs at home. If they don't have the watermark, you may not be able to play your own home movies.

Now this is all indicative of how half-baked both high-definition DVD standards, hardware, and software are, and how evil DRM can be when over-agressive companies start mucking around with it.

What can you do? Vote with your wallet, and don't buy a player that incorporates this kind of heavy-handed DRM. Read Holtzman's complete tirade ("The DVD War Against Consumers") for more information, opinion, and advice.