Copy Protection of the Next Generation

One of the major issues with the current packaged media formats is copy protection. Home media, commercial applications, parts catalogs, and corporate presentations all questioned the actual reliability of current copy protection encryption. With Blu-ray declared as the tangible media of the next generation it is important to examine the merits of its copy protection capabilities.
Blu-ray copy protection uses 3 major layers of copy protection:
1. Advanced Access Content System (AACS). AACS is similar to CSS, which was used with DVD, and works like a secret handshake between the disc and the player. The major benefit is that the “handshakes” are renewable and transparent to the honest media user. It has been publicized that this technology has been hacked, but the renewability of this scheme makes it difficult to compromise it completely.
2. BD+. This technology works like a virtual machine that monitors the system to detect modification or “modding”. “Modding” evolved out of the gaming industry as systems were easily modified to play pirated games. BD+ keeps a memory of the hosting environment and can detect and render a system useless until normal functioning is restored.
3. BD ROM Mark. A licensed replicator of the media will be required to use a unique watermark on the disc. The Blu-ray player will look for that watermark before playing the disc.
These three layers of control will hopefully manage the amount of piracy in the industry and allow content providers to feel confident that their distribution is contained. Content security is important to entertainment content, but also to those looking to contain their brand and disallow manipulation and unauthorized use. The 3 layers of copy protection used by Blu-ray aim to protect those interests.