The delay of Sony’s Playstation 3 console may have been publicly blamed on copyright protection for Blu-ray Disc media. However, the company may be working beyond standard protection to keep pirates at bay, Forbes has reported.
There is not a hope in hell that the PS3 will be seen in Australia this year the market is just too small. So why has the PS3 been delayed giving Microsoft and the new Xbox 360 a dream run straight into consumers hands.
The Forbes report suggests that Sony may be developing another layer of copy protection beyond the AACS copyright protection to be found in Blu-ray players this summer. The extra protection could thwart the rampant piracy that later plagued the Playstation 2.
“We don’t really know what is going on with the Sony Blu-ray situation because as far as we are concerned, everything is on target and all of the specifications are on schedule,” Andy Parsons, senior vice president at Pioneer Electronics and Blu-ray Disc Association spokesman told Forbes. “There are no delays we are aware of with the content protection. Pioneer’s products incorporate the AACS, and we’re going to be able to put out a Blu-Ray drive by mid-2006.”
Sony told publishers at a business meeting on Wednesday that all PS3 games will be on Blu-ray format. Pirates have successfully reproduced games on DVD and CD format on the PS2. The electronics giant will deliver VAIO computers with built-in Blu-ray drives by this summer. Korea-based Samsung will ship the first consumer Blu-ray player to stores in late May.
