[1] Although the technology for creating digital recordings from analog sources has existed for some time, it was not necessarily viewed as a "hole" until the widespread deployment of DRM in the late 1990s.
However, if the correct equipment is not used to perform the conversion, the resulting copy may have distinguishable low fidelity (or other deformations) compared to the analog (or digital) original.
The motion picture industry has also pursued several private-sector approaches to eliminating the analog hole; these might be implemented without additional legislation.
In theory, it is possible to bypass all these measures by constructing a player that creates a copy of every frame and sound it plays.
In fact, the Motion Picture Association of America has recommended use of a camcorder as an alternative to circumventing the Content Scrambling System on DVDs.