The idea behind Blu-ray Managed Copy sounds good—it'll let you make one full-res backup copy of a Blu-ray disc, and studios are required to support it beginning next year. But needing brand new hardware is just the start.


So, the Managed Copy spec, long in the making, has just been finalized by the Advanced Access Content System License Administrator—the Blu-ray DRM dudes—and now it has to be finalized by the studios, manufacturers, Blu-ray licensers, and likely, the Blu-mpa Lumpas.


Supposing they finalize it, then you still need hardware that supports Managed Copy—not the cheap Blu-ray player you got this Christmas, or even one you'll buy this Christmas. We're talking 2010. And even if the right player falls off the back of a truck in 2009, the AACS authorization server won't be running until 2010.

Okay, it's 2010, and you have the right hardware. So you pop in your disc and tell the player to authorize a managed copy—which the studio can charge you for, so it's not like you're making a copy, you're purchasing an additional copy at a lower cost, one using materials that you provide. (Raise your hand high if think studios are gonna not charge. Okay, everyone throw stuff at these people.)

If you decide it's worth it, you can put the managed copy on another Blu-ray disc, DVD, Windows Media DRM-compatible storage, SD card, etc. Oh yeah, if you grab the 50GB full-res copy, where are you gonna store 'em all? What a mess. And besides, who honestly watches real Blu-ray? We'll take the far simpler Digital Copy, thanks. [Video Business via Blu-ray]