DVD copiers of the world listen up because there’s every chance that copying [er, backing up] DVDs might become a thing of the past.
A proposed amendment by the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) in the US would change the copy protection license to ban ALL DVD back-ups and stop playback of movies in PCs or players without the original DVD in the drive.
It’s being backed by Intel, Warner, HP, Pioneer and Toshiba, Disney and others. This is the third time something like this has been put up for vote but it has been defeated twice already. However, the backing this time is stronger. In real terms, it means hardware restrictions will be added to players and PC drives to prevent data from being de-scrambled and then copied. It will also prevent software makers from making “virtual drives” that run a DVD image from a hard drive. Say goodbye to digital jukeboxes then and streaming kit.
If it gets the thumbs up, it will be enforced in 18 months, by which time we will all have moved on to “backing up” HD movies anyway.
Does anyone else think that as anti-piracy moves goes it’s about five years too late and there’ll be those out just waiting with a workaround?-Martin Lynch
