| Abstract: | Security always has to be weighed against cost on the one hand and convenience on the other. But when the stakes are very high this compromise becomes skewed so that costs soar and user convenience plunges. This is the situation now emerging in the world of digital video given the scale of potential losses facing Hollywood and the broadcast industry in the emerging video Internet. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is determined that digital video content be encrypted at any place where it could potentially be copied, including not just interfaces such as USB ports and PCMCIA slots, but also the internal PCI buses of PCs. This will impose a significant cost because it will require PC makers to develop and integrate components capable of handling the encrypted video while still ensuring that it can be watched by the user. But this is good news for makers of dedicated onboard processors, who were rubbing their hands in glee at the recent Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco. |
