Please clarify.. at what point did I say 'Open Source was the rigth way' ?
Are you on a crusade to prove how dense you can be, because if you are you're winning, you won some time ago... Now pay attention and quit whining. We are dealing with yours and other people's misconceptions about DRM. I am glad you're speaking out because you're not the only one who shares your views. So be glad you're doing a good thing....
1st of all if you want to prove anything, don't start by linking to the Inquirer that hardly screams reliable source.
2nd, try and seperate your own insecurities from the debate at hand. We can only had a discussion or debate when we use logic and reasoning. Present an argument/idea first then we can move forward right now you are completely lost in your own hurt, get over yourself. I am not here to offend you, you are not that important, but the truth is.
BTW quote people who at least attempt to make sense. Not everything you read on a web page is true.
The irony is that most content ripping software doesn't rely on video outputs and they strip the protections on the fly. After that point the content should no longer be viewed as 'premium', and the protection becomes useless.
I don't know whose the moron who wrote this but thanks for stating the obvious. However since you respect or at least trust this being let me illustrate to you how moronic the above statement is.
1. Content protection is from disc to output device. That is from the actual HD/BR Disc to your actual CRT/LCD/Plasma. Content rippers have nothing to do with anything.
2. From the graphics card DVI or HDMI port that very video stream is still encrypted and will get de-crytped by the HDCP chip on the display. The whole point of this mechanism is to provide a secure data path from media to display. If all of a sudden the video stream were to be unprotected just past the graphics card output, then you could just record the video just like can with an unprotected DVD or any random video. To prevent this, the content (read video) is protected from end to end!
3. To read from this protected data path (PLayer-> syustem bus->GFX card->Display) is what a software ripper would do. It would "trick" the protection mechanism into *thinking* the intercepted signal is still traveling along an encrypted and protected data path by matching the HDCP key that is expected by the system.
In the white paper on the Microsoft link above, the folk talk about the problems of open systems (a PC) versus a closed system (discrete DVD player) and how the end user can't upgrade or change the closed system. This seems to be the end goal - create an operating system that will create a closed system.
Once again this geniuses stupidity is just blinding. The system is still open in that, you can change your gfx card for better VC-1 decoding, playback etc... You can change you HD disc player for a faster one etc... you can change anything you want as long as the data path is still protected. How is this a violation of what an open box system is? It isn't because you can't do this on a standalone disc player or console which are closed systems. Where the confusion is I'd like to know.
The fact is that this 'feature' serves to hurt the consumer that Microsoft has targeted with its Media Center OS. Upgrading to the Vista flavor will render that 'Hi-Def' experience in 'Low-Def' detail, and more and more people will choose alternate operating systems.
This dude really deserves a nobel prize for his work in proving just how people's stupidity knows no bounds.
If you play a protected movie on a system that does not offer content protection in the form of HDCP, then your output is donwgraded to normal DVD. If however you have media that isn't protected (of which there are many) then you can get the full 720p/1080i over an analogue or unprotected digital interface.
This will happen on a regular TV+Player set just like it will on a PC. XP doesn't inherently offer a secured data path, so you couldn't play protected content on it anyway with media player. Vista does allow for a protected data path so you can play the protected content using media player. You could use something like PowerDVD HD to playback your protected movies on either operating system at full res, only under these two conditions.
a) You have an HDCP capable gfx card with DVI or HDMI output and you rdisplay also has an HDCP chip and accepts HDMI or DVI connections.
b) You have media that is not protected in which case you can get full resolution using any output method that is capable of carrying the signal (component, DVI or HDMI)
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These are th only ways you can get full resolution.
If some of these conditions are not met you simply can't watch full res movies.
I'm still waiting to here how all of this is Microsoft's fault.
BTW Bill gates then Steve Jobs later spoke out against DRM.
but wow! ... you sure are narrow minded.. 
