[Infowarrior] - Apple brings HDCP to a new aluminum MacBook near you

[Richard Forno]

Apple brings HDCP to a new aluminum MacBook near you

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/17/apple-brings-hdcp-to-a-new-aluminum-macbook-near-you

By David Chartier | Published: November 17, 2008 - 03:52PM CT

High Definition Content Protection (HDCP)—you can't live with it, but  
you practically can't buy an HD-capable device anymore without it.  
While HDCP is typically used in devices like Blu-ray players, HDTVs,  
HDMI-enabled notebooks, and even the Apple TV in order to keep DRMed  
content encrypted between points A and B, it appears that Apple's new  
aluminum MacBook (and presumably the MacBook Pro) are using it to  
protect iTunes Store media as well.

When my friend John, a high school teacher, attempted to play Hellboy  
2 on his classroom's projector with a new aluminum MacBook over lunch,  
he was denied by the error you see above. John's using a Mini  
DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, plugged into a Sanyo projector that is  
part of his room's Promethean system. Strangely, only some iTunes  
Store movies appear to be HDCP-aware, as other purchased media like  
Stargate: Continuum and Heroes season 2 play through the projector  
just fine. Attempts to play Hellboy 2 or other HDCPed films through  
the projector via QuickTime also get denied. Other movies that don't  
work include newer films like Iron Man, Star Wars: Clone Wars, and  
Love Guru, but older films like Shawshank Redemption are restricted as  
well.

The technology in Apple's MacBooks that prevents a seemingly arbitrary  
collection of iTunes Store files from being played on HDCP non- 
compliant devices is perhaps more accurately called DPCP, or  
DisplayPort Content Protection. As we've covered in the past,  
DisplayPort was designed as an open, extensible standard for computers  
that offers lower power consumption over DVI (especially in the Mini  
DisplayPort format that Apple uses on the new MacBooks). But more  
importantly, DisplayPort also beats DVI in the studios' books by  
offering the option of 128-bit AES encrypted copy protection.

All of the tested files are wrapped in the same iTunes Store FairPlay  
Version 3 DRM, save for Stargate: Continuum, which John says has  
version 2. While Apple's own Apple TV has used HDCP to protect video  
files playing from its HDMI port, this is the first time we've heard  
of Apple bringing HDCP DPCP to its hardware. (It has, however, been  
brought to our attention that other users have been complaining about  
this in Apple's discussion forums for a couple of weeks.)