So now that Slysoft has a product that can copy BD+ protected Blu-ray discs and Macrovision has bought the technology behind it , the DRM challenge seems to have escalated. My understanding of how Slysoft's workaround for BD+ works is that it doesn't actually remove the protection so much as ignore it. I don't want to get into any real details here as we quickly start getting into legal gray areas, but I also read somewhere that there's BD+ information that isn't protected (encrypted?) as well as it should be if they want it to be effective, and a future update could be produced that would fix this.

 That would, however, create something of a dilemma for the Blu-ray Disc Association because it would mean all existing players would need to be upgraded. When they had a similar upgrade for the initial BD+ implementation there was a little bit of a controversy because one title (Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer) wouldn't play in just a couple of players because of the protection. As you would expect, the manufacturers quickly responded with firmware updates, but the number of affected players was far smaller than even the number of new units that will be sold in the next month. It's also possible that the reason for the flaw Slysoft is exploiting is a limitation of one or more first generation players.

 Hardware compatibility problems for early adopters isn't new, but these aren't your father's early adopters. When DVD first appeared the early adopters belonged to an almost microscopic market segment, consisting of people who generally already had laserdisc players and big screen projection TVs. Today's crowd includes a much broader segment of the population, most of whom bought into hi-def technology after it was fairly well established, and the technology was relatively stable. It's anyone's guess how they'll respond to repeated technical problems and updates.

 One of Blu-ray's most important selling points for studios was its adaptive security model that allows the addition of new DRM measures, but does that really make it more secure. ACSS encryption, touted as the final word in DRM by some, proved to be merely a roadblock to bypass, and not even that hard to get around. BD+ seems to be proving just as ineffective. Meanwhile, more and more players that would need upgrades.

 And on the subject of firmware upgrades, I'm not a fan of that business model to begin with. As anyone who's done a lot of firmware flashing knows there's always a risk involved. Flashing involves an Electrically Erasable Programmable memory chip (EEPROM) gets erased by passing an electrical current through it. Once it's erased it gets programmed with new instructions. If these instructions somehow don't get written correctly the operation may need to be performed from the beginning.

 I'll assume for now that all the existing units have the necessary hardware to recover from a failed flash and perform it again. I'll also assume that they've been designed with high enough quality chips that they can withstand being flashed many times. However, the history of firmware flashing and consumer electronics tells us that a big enough market for players will almost guarantee units sold that aren't as reliable and don't react as well to them. It also tells us that even high quality hardware will have a certain percentage of units that develop problems as a result of being flashed.

 We've seen some of the features that studios want in Next-Gen video formats. Now it's time to look at some things consumers want. Let's start with a discussion about managed copying. You can't have an honest discussion about piracy without also including user rights. There are already experiments underway to provide copies formatted for mobile media players and computers with the purchase of a DVD. Is it too much to ask that the new technology keep up with the old? Better yet, maybe Blu-ray (and HD DVD) should put more effort into getting the managed copy features that I believe are mandatory for both are implemented.

 If the content and technology providers aren't careful they may manage to give Blu-ray the most effective DRM of all - obsolescence.