Sky, the leading satellite TV provider in the UK and Ireland has just confirmed that has dropped component video outputs on its new Sky HD boxes due to obligations by some of its content owners, according to this Digital Spy report.  This move has already come into effect with new Sky HD subscribers reporting the component connections missing on their new HD receivers.  According to an updated user guide, it claims this decision will help prevent the illegal copying of its HD programming.

According to Sky, they estimate that just 1% of UK HDTV sets now rely on component video to watch Sky HD and that it would ensure anyone with a legacy HDTV will get an appropriate box.  Existing HD subscribers who rely on the component video connection will not be affected and the same goes with anyone who already has a HD set with a HDCP capable HDMI or DVI input, such as any HD Ready TV bought after January 2005. 

As the manufacturers of Blu-ray disc players including the PS3 don't appear to have plans to stop including component output connections, it seems unusual for Sky to drop the connections already on its HD boxes.  Anyone who really wants to pirate HD movies would sooner try ripping Blu-ray discs or using a Blu-ray player as the source rather than go through the tedious process of trying to record HD programming off Sky. 

Then again, Sky probably reckons that by the time component video capture devices and generic HD DVRs with component inputs become widespread that most Sky HD boxes already on the market would be out of service or replaced with new Sky boxes that lack the component connection.