What is "managed copy"?

Link above is to a news article on managed copy which is a subject that has recently been in the news.

Idea as I see it is to let people do what comes natural and make backup copies of DVD's that they buy. I know I want to have backup copies as I learned that lesson with CD's as I have lots of scratched up CD's that I don't like playing because you have to keep jumping them over the really bad scratched parts.

Trouble is, if you make a DVD easy to copy, movie studios and other people in the chain are worried about losing lots of money as people then make copies for their friends, or even people who are strangers as I've noticed as today copying is a casual thing.

What gets me though is that it is easy to solve the problem by digital media equipment self-encryption (DMESE)--I like making up phrases so I just made that up--where your computer makes a backup copy--encrypted by it, for it.

So because your computer encrypts your copy, your computer can read your copy, but no one else can without a key.

Ok, problem solved, next thing?

Sure, yeah, the problem can be solved by me casually on a blog just like that but we live in a world complicated by massive human egos so don't necessarily think that because I put out a simple idea that would let me back up my DVD's like I backup CD's that you'll be able to do it by Christmas!

Oh yeah, I've talked about this idea multiple times on one of my other blogs:

Post on my other blog


James Harris