Time to get rid of HDCP
HDCP is something you should have never heard about. However due to all the issues it has caused with digital video connections in consumer electronics, it’s almost a household word. Just as the term is becoming a mainstream acronym, the case has never been stronger to eliminate it.
For those households that have not heard of it yet, HDCP is the encryption system used with HDMI and DVI digital video connections. It’s purpose is either to protect the valuable high definition content from video piracy, or if you are from the more skeptical crowd, it’s purpose is to cause the sale of more content by preventing casual video copying. Whatever you believe, it really has no effect on either.
HDMI and DVI are very high speed data pipes for uncompressed video. Handling this amount of data has pushed interconnect cables to their limit, and the task of recording video from this ‘firehose’ is not practical for consumers at this time simply due to the sheer volume of data. So for the video pirate, professional and fair users alike, the easier target is the compressed version of the video as found on the disc or in the transport stream.
Early this January, some unknown hacker has rendered whatever protection HDCP offered moot. ‘Muslix64′ created a tool to help rip HD-DVD content from the physical disc, and create unprotected copies on the hard drive of a PC. Since Muslix64’s initial work, it has snowballed from there to full HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc rips available on the file sharing scene. Although rather large and impractical for many to download, both HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc now are in the same camp as the good old DVD as far as copy protection goes. The bottom line to this development is that anyone wishing to make a copy of any content that is likely protected by HDCP over the HDMI link, is a million times more likely to grab that content direct off the disc. It’s just the path of least resistance at this point.
Perception of digital rights management, or DRM, is changing too. Consumers and governments are waking up to the limitations. The argument of ‘what about the artists?’ is being outweighed by ‘what about my music and video I payed for?’ Things are starting to play out and the content owners are aware of what consumers want. Apple has taken the public stance of willing to bail out of DRM altogether. Steve Jobs has stated that Apple will embrace a DRM free world. And now, EMI records has reportedly been in talks to dump DRM. Could this same trend extend to video? I believe so.
Why dump HDCP? Because it is not well suited to the way video is used except for the most typical applications. The most typical application would be a set top box sitting on top of a big screen TV. Even in this scenario it has seen many compatibility problems. But moving outside of that simple application, things go sideways fast. Another piece of equipment that is typically in the middle of the set top box and the TV is the AV receiver. Initially merely a switch, now the AV receiver needs to intercept digital audio traveling over the HDMI cable. This ‘repeater’ function has also been a source of many incompatibility issues. Another downside to HDCP is the legal restrictions it puts on those manufacturers that sign the agreement that comes with it. The agreement prevents any digital video from being converted to high definition analog video. This is a concern to a few million consumers with first generation HD displays. It’s also a concern to product designers attempting to create innovative products that mix analog and digital video.
So if HDCP encryption were to suddenly go away, would there be rampant video piracy and a corresponding drop in video content sales? Of course not. Would there be greater compatibility between consumer equipment? In time, yes. Would the consumer be more likely to accept HDMI? Probably.
But who could effect a change like this? Who makes the decision on whether HDCP stays or goes? I can’t say I’m exactly sure. Silicon Image, the company that brought us HDMI, might be the right folks to spearhead the change. But was HDCP (created by Intel) really to satisfy the content owners as to the safety of an all digital video world? Was HDCP created to satisfy legal obligations created by agreements with the DVD-CCA or Blu-ray disc association? Perhaps someone with that specific knowledge can say for sure. If there is some requirement for end to end encryption, perhaps some common sense could be used in revising these agreements to remove the focus from pointless pursuits. This is really in the best interest of HDMI, since freeing ourselves of these issues will benefit all.
I think we are all wanting the same things here, nice crisp clean entertainment, and for all of our toys to interoperate smoothly. The great part is we know how to make that happen. It only takes some common sense consideration, and some minor modifications of existing agreements, and the consumer electronics industry will make the rest happen. HDCP can quickly become a footnote, and one less acronym for consumers to learn to get their equipment to work properly.