Jari Ketola
14 Jul 2004 12:27
A group of technology and entertainment industry giants have teamed up to create a new, flexible content protection system for the future high-definition DVDs. The technology, dubbed Advanced Access Content System (AACS) would grant the users limited rights to copying the content to, for example, a portable player or a desktop PC.
The group includes companies like IBM, Intel, Warner Bros., Disney, Microsoft, Sony and Matsushita. All the companies have developed content protection systems of their own, sometimes working together with other companies. But the AACS alliance is the first time the companies come together for a single, universal solution.
For now there is no AACS technology or even specifications to license, but the AACS Licensing Authority says it would have the technology available for licensing by the end of the year.
It is obvious that the transfers can only be made between DRM capable, non-blacklisted devices. Content providers will, of course, also be able to dictate how strict the limitations on a disc are -- you might, for instance, be able to copy a movie to a portable player, but not on your desktop PC.
Source: ZDNet