"License And Registration, Please!": Blu-ray Disc Publishing and AACS

[admin]

Non-Hollywood content developers who want to access the high-def disc are charged less--a one-time fee of $3,000 for the Content Provider License to work with certified Blu-ray (BD) replicators (replicators cannot accept an order from anyone without this license and associated license number), and the $1,300 in service fees.

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A major difference between DVD and Blu-ray in terms of professional uptake was the fact that the CSS copy-protection scheme used with DVD was not absolutely mandatory; while it’s used on virtually every conventional entertainment title in circulation, content suppliers can opt out if they felt copy protection was unnecessary, such as for corporate projects. HD DVD, the rival format that BD conquered, likewise did not make AACS mandatory except for Internet-connected discs.

That, says Rolf Hartley, senior v.p. and GM of premium content services at Sonic, which makes Blu-ray authoring toolsets, is the crux of the issue. "We have many, many users of our software who work outside of Hollywood and want to bring their high-definition content to disc," he explains. "If they could opt out of the AACS requirement, they would, but they can’t."

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=14528

[drfsupercenter]

If it was for corporate projects or something, couldn't they just take some BD-Rs and make their own discs?

I don't see how AACS would be mandatory then - unless they're talking about something being sold on store shelves and at that point they'd probably WANT to use it (albeit they should know full well AACS is just as easily worked around as any DVD copy protection method ever was)