John Glimore explains the problem with Intel's appeasement

Intel builds machines that process data. "Content" is just data.
Every piece of data that an Intel processor or networking component
handles is copyrighted by somebody, under the Berne Convention. It's
all "content". You could talk about "protecting data" but people
would realize that preventing it from being copied does not "protect"
their data. Frequently you NEED to copy your data -- e.g. onto a
backup tape -- to protect it. So instead you use this made-up word
"content". Since nobody knows a definition for "content", you can say
the most outrageous things about it and get away with it.

Intel's chips have no way to tell what permission that individual chip
owner has under the copyright law, for many reasons. (The laws
change, copyrights expire, individuals or companies get more rights
than the general public does because they signed licenses, there are
things that everyone has the legal right to do with data whether or
not it is copyrighted, etc etc etc.)

If Intel really thought that there was a "need to protect content", it
would have built features into its chips to make sure that none of
Intel's OWN chip designs, hardware designs, software, documents, trade
secrets, and other intellectual property could ever be stolen or
copied using Intel equipment. That's Intel's first and foremost
interest in intellectual property protection -- but it has expended
zero effort toward "fixing" its chips to provide technical barriers
against such unlawful copying. Therefore I discount the claim that
Intel sees a "need to protect content".

What Intel is doing is a cynical scheme to buy off an oligopoly.

Also, Intel has a vested interest in people buying new hardware, as that is what they sell. They have done very well for decades by making the stuff faster and better so people want to upgrade.They should stick to this, instead of requiring an upgrade to get a machine that plays what it should. This is likely to backfire hard, as peoepl wil prefer the older unrestricted hardware over the new.