Hollywood fears a heist, it's a matter of definition

They're skittish because the copy protection measures on
standard, lower-resolution DVDs--including encryption, or scrambling, and
various software locks--proved an easy mark for hackers after DVD drives
were installed in personal computers. In 1999, a European group cracked
the code for descrambling the video files and posted its program on the
Internet.

Now JVC has developed what it calls a highly secure
format for high-definition video, and--partly for protection against
hackers--it is keeping its code out of computers. Called D-VHS, the system
uses high-def tapes that look much like the standard VHS cassettes that
JVC developed in the mid-1970s. The company is secretive about its
technology, but four studios trust it enough to have released movies in
D-VHS format. Because the code for reading the format is locked in
specialized players, "we think tape is more secure," says JVC's Jake
Onodera. Still, the new cassettes have all the drawbacks of good ol'
VHS--the tapes have to be rewound and fast-forwarded and are more easily
damaged than a disk. Even JVC acknowledges its tape format is a temporary
answer until somebody figures out how to protect high-def content on
disks.

Microsoft is trying. Artisan Home Entertainment last
month released a high-def version of Terminator 2 on DVDs that play only
on personal computers running Microsoft's Windows Media Player software.
Microsoft says it is confident about its encryption scheme. But it
recognizes that the personal computer itself must be made more secure
before it will win over the rest of Hollywood. So the software giant is
asking hardware makers to include special chips that would work with
Windows to tighten security for copyrighted material--movies, songs, and
software.