Has Jobs gone Hollywood?

Well, this is disappointing. From Monday's Wall Street Journal:

Steve Jobs stirred controversy a few years ago with his "Rip, Mix, Burn" advertising campaign, which encouraged consumers to use their computers to copy music. But when it comes to the consumer's ability to copy future generations of the DVD movie format, Mr. Jobs is sending a very different message.

At a recent private meeting with Hollywood studio heads and tech czars like Microsoft Corp.'s Steve Ballmer and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Carly Fiorina, Mr. Jobs argued that studios shouldn't license their movies for use in the planned "high-definition DVD" format until Hollywood is assured by the tech industry that the discs can't be copied by new DVD burners that will come along. High-definition DVDs are being developed as a successor to the current digital-video-disc format and are expected to be on the market by next year, along with high-definition DVD burners.

Mr. Jobs even suggested that high-definition DVD burners not be bundled with computers at all -- a scenario he said in an interview was "extreme" and one that "I hope we don't have to get to, but it helps to put the issue in perspective." He said it is up to the tech industry to prove to Hollywood that high-definition content can be adequately protected.

In making his argument, Mr. Jobs -- chief executive of both Apple Computer Inc. and film studio Pixar Animation Studios -- signaled that he is for now siding with Hollywood, rather than Silicon Valley, when it comes to protecting movie content from pirates. By choosing to wear his self-described "Pixar hat," he is underlining the tricky position he must navigate as the head of companies in both industries.

His stance also touches on a possible shift in the debate over movie piracy. The Hollywood studios, eager to spare themselves from the online piracy that has contributed to a steep decline in music sales, have said repeatedly in recent years that they won't let the same thing happen to them.

But some film-industry leaders believe that the threat of online movie piracy is still fairly remote because the size of a movie file is too big and most home computers aren't yet hooked up to televisions, where consumers prefer to watch movies. Further, to defeat the encryption used to protect DVDs, it's often necessary to download all kinds of code-breakers from the Internet. Meanwhile, the threat of physical piracy made possible by professional DVD burners appears to be a more real near-term problem. ...

Jason Reindorp, a Microsoft group manager who is involved in high-definition DVD formats, says Mr. Jobs's stand displayed a "lack of understanding" about the format and showed how he was "trying to muddy the waters." Mr. Reindorp says protection of Hollywood content is a high priority.

Mr. Jobs acknowledges that his stance was "not a popular position" with the technology-industry leaders in attendance.