Blu-ray ripping gets legalized with Managed Copy?

Philip Wong | Nov 09, 2009

Movie buffs may be able to copy (or rip in underground lingo) movies from Blu-ray Discs to PCs and gadgets come early December. This is after the studios, electronics makers and related technology licensees have agreed to loosen their iron grip on content protection. The new initiative, dubbed Managed Copy, enables Blu-ray disc owners to legally backup a copy of the movie, and will be a mandatory offering according to the Advanced Access Content System License Administrator (AACS-LA). The official watchdog regulates an industry-wide digital rights management (DRM) solution.

The idea behind Managed Copy sounds promising and is similar in concept to the Blu-ray Digital Copy already available on selected movie discs such as The Dark Knight. In a nutshell, users will have to authenticate the disc online before they're allowed to copy the content. The only key difference here is that this option will be available on both PC and Blu-ray players, although no vendor has yet announce compatible products capable of making backups. This is expected since most existing players lack onboard storage for BD-Live function, let alone a whopping 50GB memory for an entire movie.

Limiting to only one backup is also counter-productive as it leaves no room for error. This is coming from my miserable Digital Copy experience which registered a legitimate transfer, although the movie failed to playback on my smartphone due to a synchronization error. I seriously doubt tech-savvy enthusiasts will bat an eyelid, too, considering the limitless rips achievable once the copy protection is cracked using appropriate software. Will Managed Copy fuel Blu-ray sales and popularity? A firm NO, in my opinion. I'd happily trade this feature for disc affordability.

Via CNET.co.uk

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