Our good olde friend Paul Thurrott has posted a new article on copy management changes that Microsoft have now implemented in XP MCE (after they recieved "feedback" from customers, partners etc...).
The best part of the article I think is the following information... :-
- Instead of DRM, XP MCE will rely solely on a technology called CGMS-A (copy generation management system/analog), which is employed today by all major TV networks. This technology describes the intended usage for analog TV broadcasted content and allows Media Center Edition to apply the appropriate content protection during recording. If content is described as "protected" by CGMS-A, the original Media Center recording restrictions apply, and the user can record, watch, and backup the content on their media center PC but not distribute it to others or watch that content on another system. However, because 99 percent of all television content broadcasted today does not utilize CGMS-A protection, most content recorded by XP MCE can, in fact, be shared. Laemmel notes that pay-per-view events and other similar content is more likely to be protected in the future.
The interesting thing here, of course, is that by relying solely on CGMS-A for content protection, Microsoft is moving the responsibility for intellectual property theft from itself to the TV networks: If the networks don't want users stealing content, then its up to them to protect that content using existing CGMS-A technology. It's a tidy solution.
News source: WinSuperSite - Copying Content in Windows XP Media Center Edition
