Microsoft announced an HD DVD external drive for Xbox 360 at CES. I can just short of guarantee that by the time Microsoft gets around to releasing the external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 we’ll have forgotten all about it.  Xbox’s HD DVD won’t do well on the market.  Why?  When was the last time an external media reader sold like cigarettes at an AA meeting?  Remember the Sega CD drive?  But the real reason is simple.  Windows Vista Managed Copy.  There has been an ongoing brew-ha-ha over MC (Managed Copy) and AASC since the feature was announced.

AACS stands for Advanced Access Content System.  It’s a system of Digital Rights Management or DRM. Nothing gets the computer nerd nation’s panty-hose more twisted up than the very idea of DRM.  The punk rock attitude is to hate anything that has to do with interfering with the free flow of data, hence lots of bitching already about AACS and MC.  Free information would seem a noble cause.  But railing against MC or AACS is misplaced anger.  DRM is here for good so get used to it kids.  Since we’re going to have DRM it’s far better to see a standard DRM in place that all studios use rather than see every company build their own.  Remember Sony’s RootKit? 

Letting a digital entertainment provider build its own DRM is like hiring a coyote to guard the hen house.

Managed Copy is going to be a feature in both HD DVD and Blu-Ray.  Blu-Ray will leave it up to the studio releasing the disc to decide what kind of DRM protection they want on their DVD and they can choose to use AACS and/or MC or not.  Not using it will only mean you cannot legally copy any content from the Blu-Ray disc and it’ll have some form of DRM attached to it.  If Paramount decides to use MC on the Blu-Ray version of Star Trek IV you’ll be able to make a perfect copy using the upcoming Windows Vista operating system easy as pie, just drag it onto any networked device approved for use with AACS, this will include Windows Media Player.  This should also include the Xbox 360.  A dedicated HD DVD drive isn’t going to be necessary for 75% of you because HD DVD (or Blu-Ray) drives for your PC will be cheaper and offer more benefits.

HD DVD’s Managed Copy is mandatory.  Studios releasing an HD DVD disc must allow their content to be copied using this MC (and Windows Vista).  The wrinkle here is that neither Microsoft nor Toshiba (creator of the HD DVD format) can control whether or not the studio charges extra for MC or how many times AACS (the tubes and wires behind MC) will allow you to copy it to your local network.

This is a potential cat turd squished under your mattress.  How will studios bill you for your additional copies?  Will we see MC in bullet points on the back of retail discs as a “special feature” pumping up the price?  Will we see special edition versions of discs released that cost more because they include MC? 

• This feature has been authorized for Managed Copy and can be copied to any AACS device.

My guess is the answer is yes.  But my opinion is “more power to ‘em”.  This whole MC controversy is all about apples vs oranges and both are a tasty treat.  Compare MC with what you’re dealing with now.  Everything is protected with DRM, you cannot currently copy any DVD to your hard-drive all methods of cracking and hacking notwithstanding.  You’ll always have the option to crack AACS in a matter of months after the first HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc hits the market, not that I recommend it of course.