DVD-Audio Copyguards

In a story by Senior Editor Joseph Palenchar, published in the trade journal TWICE, DVD-Audio took a giant step closer to reality last week when the worldís five biggest music companies agreed to what they called a copyright protection ""framework"" with key DVD Forum members. The agreement, which applies to consumer electronics and PC products, would give consumers the right to make a digital copy of a DVD-Audio disc, but the right extends only to making a two-channel copy playable on existing CD, MiniDisc, and DAT players at less than full DVD-Audio quality. The agreement leaves it up to each content provider to determine whether consumers will be able to make a multichannel clone that sounds as good as the original DVD-Audio disc.The music companies ñ including Sony Music, whose parent co-developed the rival Super Audio CD format ñ reached the agreement with IBM, Intel, Matsushita and Toshiba. They presented it to the DVD Forumís Copyright Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG), where it ""received a favorable response,"" said IBMís Alan Bell, group co-chairman.The agreement spells out copy-making rules and restrictions and requires the use of encryption and watermarking to implement them.The four technology companies, however, are still refining the DVD-Video encryption standard to apply it to DVD-Audio, and a process is under way to choose an audio-stream-embedded watermarking technology that is musically transparent, Bell said.Warner Music Group Executive Vice President Paul Vidich said, ""The result is a voluntary agreement endorsed by the music companies."" Hardware suppliers can participate.The other big five music companies endorsing the solution are BMG, EMI and Universal.According to the agreement:- Copy-protected DVD-Audio discs would be playable only on licensed players.- Consumers would be able to use a ""legacy"" CD-encoder, MiniDisc recorder, or DAT recorder to make a single two-channel digital copy of a DVD-Audio disc. SCMS (Serial Copy Management System) technology, already required in these recorders by federal law, would preclude making digital copies of digital copies.- Content owners could opt to let consumers use future DVD-Audio recorders to make two- or multichannel copies at higher quality levels up to full DVD-Audio quality.- A DVD-Audio disc could instruct a particular DVD-Audio recorder to allow one or more copies to be made of the entire disc or selected tracks.- DVD-Audio discs could contain transaction instructions.- Serial digital copying on a DVD-Audio recorder would be prohibited ñ unless the content provider opts not to incorporate any copyright protection.Source: TWICE