DRM Issues

So, I built my new HTPC, but not all the features that I thought would work smoothly do. The sad part is that the problems that I have had are due to the stupidity of DRM schemes that Netflix, Microsoft, and the movie studios are using. My plan was to replace my cable television by:

1. Renting DVD movies from Netflix/Blockbuster
2. Streaming movies using Netflix "Watch Now"
3. Streaming television shows using AOL Video (which includes Hulu and IN2TV and others)
4. Using Media Center as my DVR for network television
5. Using Media Center extras such as Turbonick
   

The first problem that I ran into is that my DVD rentals from Blockbuster and Netflix won't play in Vista. The problem? I have my computer hooked up to my television using component Y-Pb-Pr cables. Windows does not allow the use of component cables to watch encrypted movies. It will only allow an HDMI cable to be used. I can use Windows Vista and run other programs with the component cables, it just doesn't allow encrypted movies to be watched. Thank you HDCP and PMP.

The second problem is that I've been trying out lots of different Media Center plugins, software programs, and drivers to see what provides the most optimal experience. Sometimes this experimentation "breaks" Windows. Since I don't have any saved files or work on the new computer, the easy fix is just to do a reinstall of Windows. Well, it turns out that each reinstall of Windows caused Netflix to believe that it was a different computer each time so it reported that I was using it on more than the allowed 4 computers. I called customer service and they "graciously" gave me a free extension to 5 computers so that I could use it. However, I couldn't get Netflix to work again because it kept giving me DRM issues. Even after I uninstalled and reinstalled Netflix it kept reporting the error. So much for the customer support fix. I followed the steps to clear the DRM given by Netflix website, but it still had DRM errors. It kindly offered me the customer service line for me to call a 2nd time. Did I call them a 2nd time? No, I logged on to my account and hit the cancel button.

So here I am a user trying to enjoy movies legally instead of downloading them from file sharing sites or using decryption software and Microsoft and Netflix won't let me. The irony of it all is that if you search the internet you can find hacks to break the Netflix DRM and programs to break the encryption on the DVD movies. So the DRM protection does nothing to stop piracy, but instead makes it impossible for legitimate users to legally watch movies.