Apple TV Requires HDCP-Compatible Television

BoingBoing reports that the Apple TV requires that your TV support HDCP copy protection:

When I attempted to watch the movie, however, the Apple TV displayed an error message: "This content requires HDCP for playback." HDCP (High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a form of digital rights management (DRM) that prevents you from playing video over DVI and HDMI connections (in my case) if you don't own compatible hardware that can decode the signal properly.

Netflix uses COPP, as discovered by Davis Freeberg, to make sure that Watch Instantly movies can't be pirated.

Both of these methods inconvenience people that have paid a lot of money for their TVs. When are the studios going to stop treating their customers like thieves and make life easy for everyone?

via Spout.