I just want to put forth this information hoping it will help the community.
We all know that content manufacturers would like nothing better than we keep buying the same releases over and over and over (How many copies of Star Wars can one own?).
We also know that as legitimate owners of content, it is also our right to legitimately back them up.
The next salvo the content manufacturers in this tug of war is coming.
It's called CINAVIA.
Cinavia is a form of protection wherein playback devices are embedded with this technology to prevent unauthorized content from being displayed.
What it is is a audio watermark that's embedded into the audio/video tracks and when a Cinavia enabled device tries to play it back it will kick in.
Users of PS3 already have begun to experience this when playing back ripped m2ts files from cinavia protected content.
I'm here to inform you that starting February 2012, SOC (System on a Chip) manufacturers intending to sell devices designed to play media files will be MANDATED to include Cinavia protection embedded on their devices. This includes Sigma, Realtek, Broadcomm, Marvell, Intel etc etc.
Hence. If you intend to continue enjoying playing back media files even those with Cinavia watermarks, make sure you get a media player that was manufactured PRIOR TO FEB 2012 or else you risk a media player that's Cinavia enabled.
I've been aware of this impending issue for some time now and unfortunately this is just NO way to remove watermarks in audio/video tracks embedded with Cinavia protection, it can be movies, tvshows from digital cable systems etc etc.
If you are unsure, make sure you do your research first before you put down money for a media player.
Remember, this applies to any model of media player introduced after Feb 2012.