Consumers will soon legally have the right to make one copy of each Blu-ray disc they own. However, there won’t be Blu-ray players that allow them to do it until the first or second quarter of 2010.
The Advanced Access Content System License Authority (AACSLA) has finalized digital rights management (DRM) specifications that allow for limited “managed copies” of Blu-ray discs to be made by consumers. Studios, which will have the option to charge for the copies, will have to sign the AACS license agreement by Dec. 4, 2009.
Current Blu-ray players don’t allow copies to be made, so it will be a while before manufacturers begin to roll out players with that feature. They don’t legally have to offer that feature, but consumers will undoubtedly be clamoring for it.
The number of copies that consumers will be able to make will be determined by the studios, but they’ll be required to allow at least one. The copies can apparently be made from a menu that is right on the Blu-ray disc.
The “managed copies” that consumers make will be protected with AACS DRM or Microsoft DRM. Apple hardware isn’t covered by the agreement.
Blu-ray DRM has been a hotly debated issue, dating back to the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD showdown, which Blu-ray obviously won.
I don’t know why they continue to stall the inevitable. People will find a way to make copies of Blu-rays’ just like DVD’s. Who is going to pay over 2k for a 400 Disc Blu-ray player when you can buy HDD’s and put them on a media server?
Yeah, but it is an excellent start, as long as publishers keep in mind we will be factoring the MC price into our purchasing decision and adjust their MSRPs appropriately.
I made copies of my entire DVD collection to play from and stored backups as digital files on a HDD. If I scatched the disc I play the movie from, I still had a digital copy to make a new one. At the same time, if my HDD was corrupted, I could purchase a new one and load the original DVD on it as those were untouched. If you are only allowed to legally make 1 disc copy, this really does not help out much. Basically you still just have 1 backup and if it gets damaged or lost, you need to purchase a new disc. They need to come up with a better solution or just allow us to keep the content in files we can make discs on our computer from. The industry is so worried about pirating, well it is still going to happen. Not being able to keep digital copies of the media you payed for just makes it a pain for the people doing everything legally.
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Russian Brideswill have to legally allow consumers to make one copy of each Blu-ray disc they own.