Macrovision Tries to Plug the Analog Hole

Macrovision said Monday that it will license its Analog Copy Protection technology to several online video providers, in an attempt to close the "analog hole."

Netflix, BitTorrent.com, Movielink, and Instant Media will all use the Macrovision ACP to prevent customers from copying the downloaded media via an analog recording. Historically, the most famous "analog hole" was the VCR, which could record even digital movies played on a DVD player, if Macrovision or some other technology hadn't been employed. (To be honest, I don't know what a recorded Macrovision movie would look like—static?)

What's interesting is that these services typically use Microsoft's Windows Media DRM schemes to protect their content. However, even high-definition content can be watched on a digital television via a digital signal that's been converted back into analog, which uses the YPbPr analog (or "component" cables—the red, blue, and green cables that plug into the back of a TV). But until the video services lock the content via HDCP-encrypted HDMI, that analog hole will still be present—which is what the Macrovision technology blocks.

Fun fact: according to an industry research report issued by Parks Associates in December 2006, Internet video revenue will exceed $7 billion by 2010, with services for renting and downloading TV shows and movies accounting for nearly 40 percent of that total revenue.

With that said, it's odd to see the business models becoming more and more divergent; sites like Veoh and Guba encourage users to download (by placing a "download" link, natch) while sites carrying copyrighted content, such as Movielink, lock down the content. YouTube, of course, splits the difference: view all you want, but no downloads for you! It will be interesting to see what BitTorrent.com does when it decides to allow its YouTube-like user content providers to charge for their content.