Digital Home Thoughts: Toshiba to Delay HD DVD Player Launch

"Toshiba said on Tuesday it will delay the year-end Japan launch of its next-generation HD DVD players to address copy protection issues, potentially undermining its advantage as the first supplier to put such machines on the market. The Japanese company had said in September the domestic launch might be postponed until after December. A spokesman for Toshiba said it would continue to push for a U.S. launch in the first quarter of 2006, most likely some time between February and March. Toshiba said in a statement it would not launch the products until the last details on copy protection management systems, called AACS, or advanced access content system, were finalized. "I cannot say when the AACS issues will be resolved,'' the spokeswoman said. "But it's hard to think the launch in Japan will come after the U.S. launch.'' "



This is an all but official announcement that HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) has been critically compromised, and that it's being abandoned in favor of more robust DRM solutions. I'm not surprised by this announcement, but the delay is still disappointing. I have to wonder when content providers and hardware manufacturers will draw the line and say "enough is enough". I'm tired of waiting for "the next generation" to come to market. Get these things on the shelves already!