Ever heard the expression “The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese”?

In related news, it seems that early HDTV adopters are being shut out by the content protection attached to the emerging next-gen HD DVD formats.

The copy-protection scheme that has been chosen by both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps is called Advanced Access Content System (AACS). The finalized specs for AACS are just now being revealed, and one interesting wrinkle is no full-res support for analog HD signals. Because the copyright holders cannot control what is done with the analog signal (copying, for instance…or maybe just watching), they have decided to cut the resolution on analog outputs. What this means is that if you have an HDTV with nothing but component inputs, the max res that your Shiny! New! HD-DVD or Blu-ray player will output is 960×540 pixels. That is just 1/4 of the 1920×1080 max res that your Shiny! New! HiDef! DVD player supports.

The article states “Estimates vary, but it’s believed 3 to 6.6 million such displays are in U.S. households.”

Those with HDTV systems that offer digital inputs have been blessed by the gods of AACS draconian control copy-protection, and can watch the content that They! Paid! For! at it’s full 1920×1080 resolution. Thanks AACS. That’s big of you…

Mike Evangelist also has a post concerning AACS at his site. He seems to be rather incensed by the level of control afforded to copyright owners in the AACS scheme, and rightly so. In the comments, he’s got a particularly insightful reply:

“I view the DMCA as a criminal conspiracy that should be prosecuted under RICO statutes, but of course it won’t be, as the conspirators are in charge.

But the big difference with AACS is that they can change the rules after the fact. If you buy an high definition DVD, you’ll have no certainty what rights you will be granted in the future. It’s insane.”

Well said.

(Via Slashdot and DVGuru)