Blu-ray Mandatory Managed Copy is so borked it's ridiculous!

For years we have been promised by the manufacturer of Blu-ray devices that thanks to Mandatory Managed Copy we would be able to use the content purchased on Blu-ray on other devices, thanks to the possibility to make a full resolution copy of the content. At Blu-ray launch however the feature was missing. It seems that the much needed feature is finally coming, but as the details emerge it turn out that what should have been Blu-ray's major advantage over DVD is completely borked!

Lets look a the long list of problems:

1: Mandatory managed copy won't work with current hardware: Yes, you read it right, no firmware upgrade for this. Since Mandatory Managed Copy will require an internet connection you will need to replace your $400 player to be able to use it! The only possible exception is the Playstation 3 as it has a network connection. Also there is no guarantee that the hardware you purchase later will include the feature, as this is completely optional for manufacturers. Compatible stand-alone players will be available in 2010 at the earliest, meaning that purchasing a Blu-ray player this year is now out of the question for many people.

2: Mandatory managed copy won't work with current discs: Yes, all the discs you purchased up to now were supposed to be compatible, but in the end they are not. If you want to benefit from Mandatory Managed Copy you will need to re-purchase them. Currently no exchange plans has been announced by any studio. Given Blu-ray huge duplication costs I have little hope that they will do the right thing and replace all Blu-ray discs released so far.

3: Only one copy is mandatory: The studios are only forced to grant you one copy, this means that if you want to transfer your movie to a media player, you won't be able to make another copy if you replace that device. In a world of iPods that last 4 years at best this is ridiculous. Five mandatory copies would be the minimum any sane consumer would be ready to accept.

4: Copies are not free: The studios can charge you per copy or transfer that you make. That means that you would actually have to pay to transfer a movie that you own on Blu-ray to your multimedia jukebox. In my opinion this is totally unacceptable, moving your media between your devices should always be free.

5: Few devices are supported: The only three target formats supported by Mandatory Managed Copy will be AACS protected Blu-ray, CSS protect DVD or DRM protected Windows media. This means that very few devices beside Windows PCs will actually be able to use the features to transfer HD content: iPods, Macs, Linux netbooks are left out, as are most video jukeboxes and multimedia hard disks! The only way for these devices to access a copy will be to request a DVD copy and then rip the DVD. This is absolutely ridiculous: If the copies need to be protected by DRM at the minimum the DRM scheme must be available for all devices, and preferably free of licensing fees!

In the end what we have here is technology that is 4 years late, is incompatible with most current hardware and all current discs, is incompatible with most devices and is ripping off the consumer. Personally I thought that this feature could save Blu-ray when it would finally come to be implemented, but now I realize that AACS-LA has made a joke of this, I am disgusted, this is a complete failure for Blu-ray. One thing that is sure is that I won't be buying a stand alone Blu-ray player this year since current models will be obsolete next year! If you still wish to purchase a player this year I would suggest that at least you choose the Playstation 3, as this is your best bet if you hope for a firmware update (and that is a risky bet).

You know what, I am starting to hate HD content. It seems that because the image quality is a bit better the media industries feel that they can impose their own set of rules on the consumers and rip them off in the most unacceptable way! A few extra pixels do not give them the right to treat their customers like shit. I say stop: I'll purchase Blu-ray content when the format is finally stabilized and event then only if the price is right and if I really own the content that I purchased. This would mean that I can transfer and play it on any device I own without having to pay ridiculous transcoding fees. Until then I"ll stay with DVD, or I'll watch free HD podcasts in Miro or iTunes, thank you!

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