Re: HTPC and HD Cable
Possibly. There's all kinds of ridiculously complicated things involved to stop high-definition piracy.
From what I've read, the pirates have been able to get around it all for some time. So, the anti-piracy measures are just there to make sure that paying-customers are sufficiently frustrated.
It will be genuinely interesting, as the disadvantages of supporting the studios grow increasingly great, to see just how this whole piracy thing develops into the 21st Century.
It seems to me that the studios are already trying half of a 'trust' based system ("piracy is bad, don't do it") but the problem is that they're complementing it with other approaches ("we hate you, potential pirates. Watch this non-fastforwardable copyright warning and, also, you can't play your legally purchased (Region C) blu-rays in your legally purchased (Region A) player")
Interesting thought has just occured to me, while I laughed at the German anti-piracy ads, the approach actually makes more sense in its consistancy. (German anti-piracy ads, the ones I've seen, make no mention of morality or supporting the artists, it's just a blunt sort of "If you pirate our films, we will [expletive] you!" (I'm paraphrasing slightly, but the ad does end with a policeman coming into a young man's bedroom to arrest him as he's downloading movies)
Thing is, as silly as that approach sounds, it's consistant. Fear + Annoying Anti-Piracy Measures.
The American approach is more like "Please don't steal our movies" + Annoying anti-piracy measures. Individually, either of these approaches is worth a try (although I do love the irony of Hollywood trying to teach us all about morality
) but, together, the one just undermines the other.
