Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president Dan Glickman has recently claimed that the AACS support behind managed copy would be ready before the end of the year. A spokesperson for the HD DVD Promotional Group has said that the full implementation of managed copy will appear only once AACS is finalised. That final specification is expected in the coming months.

Once the final specification is ready, studios will be able to specify what options they would like to offer and for how much. For instance, a user might have the option of making one free backup or could be charged a nominal fee to create a version suitable for mobile usage. Studios could even permit multiple copies at discounted pricing, allowing consumers to make copies for friends and neighbors at a fraction of the original cost.

According to the HD DVD Promotional Group, managed copy will be retroactive for all HD DVD discs – that is, discs sold today will work with managed copy, even though the feature is not ready yet. The same is not true for Blu-ray, however.

Back before either HD DVD or Blu-ray launched, there was conflict between the two camps over the feature. The dividing line between them is that HD DVD requires all studios to support managed copy (so-called "mandatory" managed copy), while the Blu-ray camp doesn't. Required or not, studios have the option of charging for any and all managed copy use, so it is not the case that HD DVD will offer free managed copy on every disc.

Some studios remain worried that managed copy could be exploited and provide a backdoor to AACS security. (Source: newsarc.com/cda)

Story filed 28.05.07