HP Puts Sony in Headlock over Lack of Managed Copy in Blu-Ray Spec

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1873773,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1873773,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday raised the stakes in a battle between high-definition DVD formats by urging a group led by Sony Corp. to include features important to PC makers and users. Palo Alto, Calif-based HP has long backed Sony's Blu-ray but last month Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. endorsed a competing high-definition DVD format known as HD-DVD, which is backed by Toshiba Corp. That prompted HP to make its move on Wednesday. "We're still supporting Blu-ray but we're very serious that we want these technologies. If in the end, they're supported in one and then not the other, we'll have to make a choice," said Maureen Weber, general manager of personal storage in HP's personal systems group."</i><br /><br />Read between the lines: HP is looking for a way to jump ship without losing face, and they know Sony won't add managed copy to Blu-Ray because Sony is the kind of company that will back the losing team is it's <i>their</i> team.

[Felix Torres]

Simple test: a movie can be bought at the same price in two different formats. One lets you archive it on your PC hard drive and stream it across your home network; the other doesn't, but it *does* allow the movie vendor to remotely keep you from playing it if at some point, somewhere, *somebody* figures out how to hack the same model player. And this deactivation would happen regardless of whether *your* player is hacked or not.

Guess which is which and you'll see why MS &amp; Intel lean towards HD DVD and Sony, Disney, and Paramount favor BD ROM, and why HP is getting cold feet.

[Phoenix]

...Guess which is which and you'll see why MS &amp; Intel lean towards HD DVD and Sony, Disney, and Paramount favor BD ROM, and why HP is getting cold feet.

Walt Disney Pictures is owned by Buena Vista which has agreed to put out movies in both HD and Blu-ray formats. Paramount Pictures has agreed to do the same. And Warner Brothers may follow suit as well.

To the best of my knowledge, this is where things currently stand with the major studios:

- Paramount (HD and Blu-ray)
- Buena Vista (HD and Blu-ray)
- Warner Brothers (HD, and maybe Blu-ray)
- New Line (HD)
- NBC Universal (HD)
- 20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
- Sony Pictures (Blu-ray only!)

[mcsouth]

The depressing thing is that 99% of average consumers won't know the difference until its too late.......

Hopefully this message (along with similar messages about technologies such as the broadcast flag) can get pushed out to the general consumer market in terms that most folks can understand, so that the right choices get made. I would suspect that the MPAA will do everything it can, legally or otherwise, to prevent HD-DVD from gaining a foothold in the marketplace, in order to "protect" their monopolistic practices.

On a personal note, anyone want to buy approx. 100 VHS pre-recorded movies, mint condition, barely watched? I've mostly replaced them with DVD's (I wonder who profited from that?). See me in a few years for my DVD collection........

[Felix Torres]

To the best of my knowledge, this is where things currently stand with the major studios:

- Paramount (HD and Blu-ray)
- Buena Vista (HD and Blu-ray)
- Warner Brothers (HD, and maybe Blu-ray)


No maybe about it, WB made a formal announcement today.
And, minor point: Disney is the parent company. Buena Vista is one of their studio brands, along with Miramax and Hollywood. Also onboard under Disney are ABC, ESPN, and several other cable networks. :wink:
Disney has been very active in trying to exploit their IP in digital form both through their own in-house developed proprietary systems and through partnerships with others such as Real, MS, and Apple.

They generally try to cover all the bases, hence the dual format support.
This is shaping up as a case where all the studios (except Sony) are going to hedge their bets.

It is up to cosumers to speak with their wallets as to how intrusive a DRM scheme they'll tolerate.

[Phoenix]

...No maybe about it, WB made a formal announcement today.

And there it is. That didn't take long.


And, minor point: Disney is the parent company. Buena Vista is one of their studio brands, along with Miramax and Hollywood. Also onboard under Disney are ABC, ESPN, and several other cable networks. :wink:

I didn't know if you were referring to The Walt Disney Company or Walt Disney Pictures. I know we might be splitting hairs here, but it helps to understand how it works: My understanding is that The Walt Disney Company owns Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, which in turn runs Walt Disney Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Miramax Films (which runs Dimension Films).


Disney has been very active in trying to exploit their IP in digital form both through their own in-house developed proprietary systems and through partnerships with others such as Real, MS, and Apple.

They generally try to cover all the bases, hence the dual format support. This is shaping up as a case where all the studios (except Sony) are going to hedge their bets.

It is up to cosumers to speak with their wallets as to how intrusive a DRM scheme they'll tolerate.

Hedging their bets indeed... at least at this point, IMO, would be the only logical route for these studios to take since no one can tell what will happen. We have seven major studios - three committed to both formats, two committed only to HD (at least for now), and two committed only to Blu-ray (of course this could change, too, for the exception of Sony). So it seems the cards are stacked evenly for now.

As it stands:

- Paramount (HD and Blu-ray)
- Buena Vista (HD and Blu-ray)
- Warner Brothers (HD and Blu-ray)
- New Line (HD)
- NBC Universal (HD)
- 20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
- Sony Pictures (Blu-ray only!)


This is getting very interesting.

[randalllewis]

As long as we are picking nits here:

Buena Vista is the distribution company for all of Disney's various studio brands- Walt Disney Pictures, Miramax, Touchstone. You will see their name near the end of the credits and in the tiny fine print on movie ads.