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DVD burning finally approved - September 20, 2007

After months of inexplicable delay, the board of directors of the DVD Copy Control Assn., has given final approval to on-demand burning of DVDs using the same Content Scramble System used on commercially pressed discs, the group announced Thursday.

The use of CSS ensures that burned discs will play reliably on ordinary set-top DVD players, something that can't be guaranteed with other copy-protection or anti-ripping systems, potentially opening a new pathway from the Internet to the TV via sneakernet.

"With this new application of CSS...vendors could, for example, create protected DVDs in custom runs at new on-demand factories or on store-based kiosks," DVD-CCA's press release said. "Individual consumers will also be able to legally record a variety of content at home, including select movies, as offered by the content owners. In addition, consumers, consumers could obtain unusual, historical or special content that is now unavailable on DVD because existing demand does not economically allow the mass reproduction today's market requires."

DVD-CCA has been working on CSS-enabled "managed recording" seemingly since the beginning of time. All the technical aspects of so-called download-and-burn were approved last year, including the new type of DVD-R needed to record CSS-encrypted content. All that remained was a minor modification of the CSS master license controlled by Toshiba and Matsushita so that DVD-CCA could begin licensing the new application, and to set an effective date for the change.

There it sat, though, for the better part of eight months while would-be providers of on-demand manufacturing solutions like Sonic Solutions and MOD Systems grew fidgety watching their investments sit idle. Sooner or later someone was bound to sue over having relied on representations by DVD-CCA that a license would be forthcoming to sink money into developing burning hardware and software.

Given the pent-up interest, it's possible commercial deployments of enterprise burning systems could be rolled out before the end of the year.

Consumer uptake will likely be slower due to the need to roll out the new type of DVD-R and the required updates to consumer burning software, and to content owners' need to accommodate impatient retailers before turning their attention to the consumer market.

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