Managed Copy to be absent from final AACS specification

[Vrex]

Consumer Electronics Daily reports that Managed Copy will NOT be included in the AACS specification due to be released this summer. MC was originally intended to be a mandatory feature of Blu-ray discs, allowing users the limited, authorized ability to network content, make backups for mobile devices, etc.
A good idea which the powers that be have decided against. Too bad!

[jagabo]

As long as we have unmanaged copy it does't matter.

[jman98]

Managed Copy was a Microsoft idea that Hollyweird never supported. Since BluRay was designed to be anti-copying and contained support for evil region codes, I'm not surprised that Managed Copy won't be supported. Hollyweird never got on board with this. But as jagabo says, it's a moot point now that the "uncrackable" final BluRay copy protection scheme got cracked.

[dadrab]

...it's a moot point now that the "uncrackable" final BluRay copy protection scheme got cracked.

"Curses. Foiled again."

[MikieV]

MC was originally intended to be a mandatory feature of Blu-ray discs, allowing users the limited, authorized ability to network content, make backups for mobile devices, etc.

What???

Managed Copy was only mandatory on HD-DVD... and is one of the reasons Micro$oft and Intel started being cheerleaders for HD-DVD - and slagging Blu-ray - starting way back in 2005.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...this-year.html

According to the HD DVD Promotional Group, managed copy will be retroactive for all HD DVD discs—that is, discs sold today will work with managed copy, even though the feature is not ready yet. The same is not true for Blu-ray, however.

Back before either HD DVD or Blu-ray launched, there was a war of words between the two camps over the feature. The dividing line between them is that the HD DVD folks require all studios to support managed copy (so-called "mandatory" managed copy), while the Blu-ray camp doesn't.

Microsoft was PO'd that Blu-ray snubbed both iHD interactive features [co-developed by Microsoft and Disney] in favor of Java-based software, and mandatory Managed Copy in favor of giving each studio the choice of how/if managed copy was implemented.

Microsoft [and Intel] wanted Managed Copy to be mandatory so that every movie released could have a copy stored on a Vista-based Home Media Server... based on Intel's Viiv platform, of course... and both companies hoped that more people would buy media server computers if they could copy all of their purchased movies onto them.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050927-5355.html

Microsoft and Intel noted several "requirements" that they feel HD DVD meets. "Managed Copy," for instance, will allow users to make copies of HD DVD discs for personal use. We expect that HD DVD users with Media Centers (for example) will be able to pop in a disc, copy it to a hard drive (with DRM translation in effect), and build a digital library that way. Currently there is no competing feature in the Blu-ray camp.

Straight from Microsoft's press room:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/p...onGroupPR.mspx

Microsoft and Intel cited the following consumer and industry requirements of any successful next-generation optical format for high definition, which is reflected by what HD DVD delivers today:
•

Managed Copy: A first for DVDs. Managed Copy is a guaranteed feature within HD DVD that gives consumers the freedom to make copies of their discs to a hard drive or home server, including Media Center PCs using Intel Viiv technology, ...
•

“Future-proof” compatibility. Using proven HD DVD “hybrid disc” technology,...
•

Proven low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. HD DVD discs use essentially the same manufacturing equipment....
•

Superior capacity. HD DVD-ROM discs will offer dual-layer 30GB discs at launch, compared with BD-ROM discs, which will be limited to 25GB.
•

Superior interactivity. HD DVD discs will offer greater interactivity using iHD technology, ...
•

Superior format for notebook PCs. The compatibility of HD DVD with standard DVD facilitates ...

[MikieV]

But as jagabo says, it's a moot point now that the "uncrackable" final BluRay copy protection scheme got cracked.

Yeah,

Ars Technica was laughing about that, too.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...this-year.html

Yet even with the option of charging for managed copy, not all studios are fans of the idea. A source close to a major Blu-ray partner who spoke on condition of anonymity told Ars that there is a fear that managed copy could be exploited and provide a backdoor to AACS security. When I pointed out the obvious flaw with that concern, namely that AACS has already been compromised, my source said that hopes are still high that the AACS game of cat-and-mouse with hackers will ultimately be won in AACS' favor.