HDCP and your graphics card.

DailyTech has a report that ATI has been misleading consumers with their claims that their video cards are “HDCP-ready.”

True or not, one thing has been made clear:  The entertainment industry doesn’t have a clue.

They claim that rampant piracy is hurting their bottom line, and that despite thier best efforts (suing customers, installing viruses and rootkits on your PC, enforcing anti-consumer DRM policies) – consumers still download movies, TV shows, and music from illegitimate sources.

So what’s there next brilliant move?  Make it so that your computer will be forced to down-scale High Definition content that you paid for.  Meanwhile, pirated copies will be available that play in full resolution on any PC.

Does this sound backwards to anyone else? 

Seriously… what genious came up with the idea that they could beat piracy by making pirated copies better quality than what you can buy at the store?  You can’t encourage piracy and then complain about it.  But that’s exactly what they’re doing.

I think it’s time consumers started looking out for their own interests.  Speak up against the HDCP requirements.  Don’t pay for crippled content.  Don’t let them hold your content hostage and extort you for more money to buy new “approved” HD hardware.  It’s wrong, and it’s up to consumers to fight it.