Consumers don't care about locked-down systems; if they did, the dominant portable MP3 player would run Linux. It doesn't; it's the iPod.
The analog gap isn't an unsolveable CS problem. Yes, you can't encrypt photons. But you can watermark and trace them. Preventing copies is CS-hard. Preventing covert channels is also CS-hard. Watermarks are a defensive application of covert channels.
Watermarks -> revocation -> economic disincentive to copying transactions.
Watermarks -> evidence -> lawsuit -> economic disincentive to copying at all.
Also, none of these things has to work perfectly. The industry's goal isn't to stop copying. It's to capture the maximum amount of revenue per title.
The analog gap isn't an unsolveable CS problem. Yes, you can't encrypt photons. But you can watermark and trace them. Preventing copies is CS-hard. Preventing covert channels is also CS-hard. Watermarks are a defensive application of covert channels.
Watermarks -> revocation -> economic disincentive to copying transactions.
Watermarks -> evidence -> lawsuit -> economic disincentive to copying at all.
Also, none of these things has to work perfectly. The industry's goal isn't to stop copying. It's to capture the maximum amount of revenue per title.