Sony DRM and the New Digital Hole 184
expro writes "If the root kit scandal was not enough for Sony, Time Magazine reports that it is a delay in 'the release of copy-protection software required for the PS3's game and high-definition movie discs' giving Microsoft a serious advantage in the market place. Is there something Sony should be learning here about preoccupation copy control? With high definition writable media appearing already, will the price drop soon enough to help me overcome the real obstacle to backing up my exsisting commercial DVDs, cost of single media large enough to hold them that is playable in a player? Will the resulting new digital hole in copying existing DVD schemes to higher-density media replace the analog hole of VCRs in copying movies?"
Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:4, Interesting)
Nobody ever explained to me why Microsoft would inherently give a damn about DRM. As far as I know, it's the content industry that says "chain up people's PCs or we won't release high defenition material at all".
Microsoft's actual anti-piracy efforts have been a token effort at best, especially when you consider that MS actually depends a lot on penetrating developing countries with its pirated software. All other things being equal, I seriously doubt they'd give a shit less about implementing something technically very thorny and that just makes your software a pain in the ass to use.
Only reason X360 and Xbox have copy protection is to ensure developers actually pay licensing fees and don't just release software for their loss-making hardware without paying. It's got very little to do with piracy.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:3, Informative)
Thacherous computing plattaforms won't be able to run Linux. Or, at least won't be able to do that the way we do it now, that is easy to modify and improve.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:2)
So, Sony is going to take advantage of the DRM role on the GPL (so bad Linus don't like v3). As I said, that won't let people improve Linux, destroying its sucessfull strategy.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:2)
Is this because more people want FairPlay cracked, or because the Janus scheme is that tough? Truth is, given a choice between Apple's DRM or Microsoft's I would choose Apple's simply because it is more relaxed. For myself, I would generally prefer to avoid WMA and WMV content to the best that I can, DRM or not.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:3, Informative)
Earlier versions of Microsoft DRM were cracked too.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:2)
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:3, Informative)
Mandatory managed copy.
You can save HD to back-up media or hard drive at full resolution. (Preserving closed captioning and multiple audio tracks?) You can distribute to home networks. You can painlessly downsample/download to portable devices and media.
That would meet 95% or more of anyone's "fair use" requirements.
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:2)
You're right, it doesn't make sense at first glance. One would think MS would want to make it easy for people to use digital media, not harder by corrupting it with digital restrictions. However, I think MS is trying to position itself as the de facto DRM provider. If all media sold online used M
Re:Microsoft? Who knew! (Score:2)
Remember buying your XBox, then having to buy the extra $35 kit to make it read them properly? Microsoft didn't care about having it locked down properly when they sold it, they just sold the units, and sold a separate kit later that opened it up as a DVD player.
Really, the issue here is the fact that the blu-ray/hddvd people are lagging on finally deciding how to best screw over their customers and throw
Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not saying corporations are always right or always do the right thing, but when it comes to making money, Sony usually gets it right, and I don't think one self-important slashdotter speculating otherwise carries much weight compared to a financial beast that's been generating astoundingly large piles of cash for the past long while.
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:5, Insightful)
The negative PR Sony gets in geekland is outweighed by the average consumer's perception of the quality of Sony products. Sony's rootkit was absolutely unacceptable, but don't think Sony didn't already know that.
You'll never know what your boundaries are unless you surpass them. This way, when they slowly reintroduce the same technology years later when DRM and consumer hard-drive snooping has become largely perfunctory, they can measure how far they've come.
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2, Informative)
And their media empire hasn't been doing so hot lately either.
Basically, the main thing keeping Sony afloat right now is the playstation brand. They are not a healthy company.
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
But now I agree with parent, and it's pretty sad. The consumer electronics are overstyled, ordinarily engineered junk like we used to get from the likes of JVC. Some of the laptops have pretty designs, but they're fl
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
But yeah, their remote controls aren't too bad (a bit Sony-centric, but that's to be expected.) And their TV pictures are pretty good.
I gave up liking Sony products after my last CD/DVD player purchase. The player did not support VCD / SVCD, Picture CD or any other home-burned formats that had already become common
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
just "geekland" that they got the negative PR over DRM- it was pretty much
common news to the point that the governments were chastising them and taking them to
court over it.
With this in mind, it's a little amazing that they're so damn worried about DRM (which
got them in trouble, costs for which are yet to be fully determined...) to majorly delay
one of their MAIN product offerings to the point that they may well
cede the
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
what percentage consumer retention (of PS2 owners) will Sony need in order to be considered successful with the PS3? 60%? 70%? any of those two guarantees a wealth of riches for the next seven years. They'll be fine. Microsoft XBox owners and PS owners rarely overlap. The audience that is actively choosing between the two is small. PS2 owners will re up when it comes out, and until then they have a shitload of games to keep playing.
Sony doesn't lose
Re: Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
Actually, I suspect it didn't. Or at least (given that a corporation is NOT a single entity, no matter how much legal fiction would wish it otherwise) I suspect that most of the people actually involved in making this rootkit didn't consider it 'absolutely unacceptable'.
What you see of the world is affected by where you're looking from, probably far more so that most of us realise. Imagine you're a techie at So
Re: Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
Next, it wasn't even Sony employees who came up with the rootkit solution. It was an external company who sold it to them. I'm betting with you on this one, that most folks at Sony did not even understand the implications of what they had purchased -- the
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
Re:Is there something Sony should be learning? (Score:2)
Sure. However, a calculation is only as good as the data it was based on. In order to calculate the most economically viable course of action, you need to guesstimate what happens as a result of each possible action, and then compare the results. A beancounter has no magical crystal ball that w
why compete directly? (Score:2)
If I were them I would make the release perfect, set up a bunch of not-too-be-missed games and release when the gleam on the xbox has worn off. if you time it right, you could probably alternate with the other manufacturer, and both make out like bandi... good busines
Sony has lost it's edge (Score:5, Interesting)
No matter what DRM, watermark, or token system they release will do nothing more than frustrate their consumer base. Many consumers are now feeling for burned by Sony that they will wait until the mid to trailing edge of the technology cycle to adopt it.
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2, Flamebait)
I don't see how the DRM scheme of blueray is going to "burn" me. I can still watch my movies with ease, and even my friends with DVD players can borrow them and watch them, thanks to dual layering allowing a DVD layer and a hi-def laye
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:5, Insightful)
Sony... the guys who brought us very expensive DVD players that wouldn't read CD-R/DVD+-R media (on purpose of course). This one really upset me. I couldn't play my DVD's slideshows and movies that I made on my computer on my Sony player.
Sony, the guys who brought us the Sony Memory Stick and Magic Gate copy protection aka "Slow and Lame."
Sony, the guys who just released the "iPOD Killer" that can't even play MP3's and requires converting them to Sony's proprietary format (because it's better right?).
Sony, the guys who make TV's that enforce macrovision so strictly that they sometimes don't work with DVD players and legal DVDs. Can anyone say, RF adaptor? Should one really need to purchase an RF adaptor just to get the Sony DVD player and Sony TV to work together? Jeez....
First and second generation HDTVs which won't play at full resolution with new devices because of what they call the "ANALOG HOLE".
Sony the guys who make video cameras that shutoff if accidentally pointed towards a TV screen playing a DVD (say during your child's birthday party).
Sony is capable of making a good product, but don't expect it to be flexible. If you use your Sony product as they deem you should use it (strictly buying their content), then you're fine. Stray outside the lines slightly and it will become a source of aggravation. I realize Sony has become more flexible lately because their electronics division has been suffering, but I will not forgive the sins of the past 4-5 years so easily due to the amount of hard earned cash that I feel was wasted. I will never buy into another proprietary Sony standard just because they want CONTROL nor will I buy another Sony device that doesn't allow what I consider "fair use". I really feel sorry for the people who have been buying with the Sony credit cards and now have accumulated Sony points.
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
Sony has not released any audio devices that use ATRAC in over a year.
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
Imagine that... early adopters CONTROLLED by Sony. You made my point for me. When Sony first released their iPOD killer, they put their users through a long cumbersome conversion process which resulted in proprietary DRM'ed music filed. Sony then realized that their users wanted more. SONY seemed to get the message that as long as they were shoving the proprietary Sony music and DRM format down the throats of the consumer that sale
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
But how does that prove that they have 'lost their edge'
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
The customers, when aware of the issues, demand LESS DRM, but Sony Entertainment demands MORE DRM.
As a result, Sony's harware guys are having to fight on two fronts. They must battle competition and THEIR OWN content guys at the same time. Hardly a desirable position.
Their competition (Toshiba, Hitachi, JVC, you name it) is fighting unencumbered, and are tearing Sony to shreds.
And yes, they managed to reduce a fir
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
You ever tried using out that firewire port with your vaio laptop? have you hooked the av cables up to your Sony theater receiver or television? Getting it to work with the home theater is a no-brainer, but the firewire port isn't anything to scoff.
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
I've pointing my camera at screens and haven't had it turn off. Not sure what that has to do with firewire or the original comment.
Are you saying it's on the software side or something?
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2)
Re:Sony has lost it's edge (Score:2, Insightful)
MiniDisc would be one. Sony's idea of an "MP3 Player" was software that transcodes Atrac to MP3 in realtime for an MD player. In its time MiniDisc was a nicely engineered format. The physical media could hold quite a lot and the Atrac codecs weren't bad at all. But Sony was so petrified of piracy that they stymied the obvious PC applications. MD never succeeded in being more than a niche technology
Analog Hole (Score:4, Funny)
What's the Problem? (Score:2, Informative)
Devkits in June! Truth is Cell and tools are late. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sony is late with everything most likely the Cell processors and the programming tools for it. DRM is just a smokescreen, handy because really did have issues with both HD/BD getting it finalized, but it is now.
But in Sonys case it is a very stupid excuse, give the rootkit problems. Many people will percieve this is Sony being late so they can figure out new ways to screw us over with DRM. They really need new marketing droids before they release lame excuses like this.
Re:Devkits in June! Truth is Cell and tools are la (Score:3, Interesting)
If I remember correctly the story a few months ago about that artist who was fired for slamming the PS3 made some comments on the dev kits his team was using to develop their next gen titles.
FINAL devkits in June (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not sure how different the current devkits are from the final PS3 hardware, but it could potentially lead to some serious development work still to come. If nothing else the more elite devs will want to take at least a few months to get better performance/graphics out of their game using the presumably superior performance of the
Re:Devkits in June! Truth is Cell and tools are la (Score:2)
From Sony's presentation at the recent PS3 announcement:
So, the final dev kit is most likely going out before June (the slide shows it on a timeline somewhere between May and June), the final Cell and RSX are in the earlier releases of the devkit and there is a Blu Ray drive in the f
Yes it is the Final devkit. AACS the holdup? (Score:2)
The question is do you seriously believe it is AACS holding up launch till November?
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/playstation-confe rence-news-roundup-160603.php [kotaku.com]
Here's their summary so far for anyone who wants to catch up:
PS3:
- GLOBAL RELEASE NOVEMBER 11th
- 60GB HDD 2.5" with pre-installed Linux OS will be included?
- Dev kit specs fix as of today
- Final PS3 development kits will be sent to developers in June
- 10.000.00
Re:Yes it is the Final devkit. AACS the holdup? (Score:2)
Do I believe that it's the AACS issues holding up the launch in Japan until November? Not entirely, but I'm not going to assume there isn't any truth in it either. I'd be more tempted to suggest the launch timeframe is set by game software availability, network infrastructure and hardware costs rather than vague claims that Cell isn't re
Re:Devkits in June! Truth is Cell and tools are la (Score:2)
So, nice theory, but you might want to ditch that PS3 purchase fund and spend the money on tin foil for headgear instead.
Re:Devkits in June! Truth is Cell and tools are la (Score:2)
This isn't the first time... (Score:3, Insightful)
There were many times before the arrival of the Ipod that Sony had the best looking Mp3 players, and they always seemed to have the features I wanted. However, they made the idiotic move of making a user convert all of his songs to the ATRAC3 format. Seriously, who wants to deal with that crap? So what happens? Smaller players move in and dominate.
Re:This isn't the first time... (Score:2)
That's why DAT didn't take off as a consumer format. Be
Content (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Content (Score:2)
Monk 1: "Why good brother Monk, this manuscript isn't worth reading, much less transcribing word by word so that we might have a back up copy."
Monk 2: "Shut up fellow Monk, the Vicar has demanded copies and copies he shall get."
There's two reasons you argument is shoddy at best.
First, there have always been people pumping out shitty content that isn't worth watching/playing/hearing, much less making a copy of.
Second, did it eve
Re:Content (Score:2)
However, if you look at mainstream media: news, music and radio stations, movies and television shows, you CONSISTENTLY find that the best produced products, in virtually EVERY GENRE are mostly outside the edges of commercial media. From HBO to Comedy Central, to most musical acts that are on mainstream radio sucking huge and all sounding like the same whiny gen-x'er losers who are using the same music production software to compress the shit out the trac
while we're on the subject... (Score:2)
pointless (Score:2)
What they will never learn (Score:3)
The stark reality that has always been out there for everyone to see is simply that MOST people are willing to spend their money of "official" copies of their favorite entertainment. This means they'll watch the movie and if they like it, they'll buy the DVD. If they hear the song and like it, they'll buy the CD. This pattern (I have no studies to back this up... it's just my observation) fits the vast majority of consumer out there.
So then the question comes up, "...that's fine, but what about the REAL pirates who attempt to counterfeit and sell to a public who thinks they are buying 'official' copies?" GO AFTER THEM to the fullest extent of the law. I doubt that anyone would fail to support legal/criminal action against those activities. But the 'copy protection' that exists today and is likely to exist tomorrow will not thwart those pirates, but it goes a long way to inconvenience their paying consumers.
So far, they have mostly gotten away with it. Sony didn't get a black eye from the back-door infecting CDs... I'd liken it more to a minor abrassion if even that. The majority of the buying public never noticed and still have never even HEARD of Sony's stunt.
I believe there is such a thing as "enough profit" and they should recognize it for their own benefit as well as their consumers. It has been demonstrated that big business often consider government fines, liability lawsuits and other costs associated with survival in a litigeous society as "a common business expense." I believe they should stop viewing casual or civilian copying as a threat to their business model because I would believe (again, no supporting facts) that the legals costs, the costs of product delays, the costs of lost fandom, the cost of development of 'protective measures' and the COSTS OF SUPPORTING LEGISLATION far outweigh any potential losses they might consider lost due to civilian copyright infringement.
(I also believe they know this... I believe their aims are a little bigger than they will admit and it's likely something along the lines of price fixing, monopolistic control and that sort of thing.)
Re:What they will never learn (Score:2)
That's because there's no such thing. They are a publicly traded company; they are required to maximize stock value to shareholders.
Instead of trying to convince the industries to abandon a business strategy that has so far been very successful, perhaps it would be more worthwhile to educate consumers on how these companies are ripping them off.
After all, they're the ones who keep buying this crap and perpetuating the system.
Business Greed 101 (Score:2)
A person sells a product for $100 and finds that lots of people are buying it. The guy figures that he could notch up the price up a bit and increases it by $10. People still buy it, since they still feel that the product is worth the money being made. The guy is now making a good profit on top of what he was already making. He now figures that since people are happy with that price he could make even more money by notching up the price again, so the price is now $120. Suddenly
Re:What they will never learn (Score:2)
Re:What they will never learn (Score:2)
I don't know how common this is TODAY, but I know at one time, it was way too frequent.
Betamax Revisited (Score:5, Insightful)
Now lets got to the real issue here. Which will consumers prefer? An expensive, poorly designed piece of technology, or something that is no more difficult to adopt than what they currently have. Most computers have issues playing non-DRM protected HDTV content let alone one that is. I bought the new special edition Terminator II that had the metal case and the high-def version. My computer was brand new at the time and it wouldn't even play it because of the DRM.
So what new format will we choose to distribute the next generation of media? Will it be Bluray or HD-DVD? Maybe neither! There are competing technologies out there that are capable of high-def right now without the need of clunky, ill-deigned DRM software. There's Xvid, DivX, etc, why PAY for proprietary forms of media you can't even bring to your SO's apartment to watch? That was the beauty of VHS, you could record stuff off of tv CHEAPLY, there was ONE format in video stores.
All of this just leads to confusion for the consumer. The new DVD format should piggyback on the old technology and be founded on OPEN standards. History will repeat itself with Sony's proprietary formats. Early adopters of Bluray will be throwing out their money. It will be at least 5 years before HD is fully mainstream. The majority of the movies out there will not benefit from being in HD.
Do you honestly think seeing Gone With the Wind will be better in HD?
Re:Betamax Revisited (Score:2)
Sony lost the home format but won the broadcast-level market and holds it to this day. Betacam SP has been the industry standard for production for many years, only recently supplanted by newer digital efforts (and even those are still in their infancy).
You make a fine point, but it is worth mentioning that while Sony lost the living room, they won the studio.
Re:Betamax Revisited (Score:2)
Re:Betamax Revisited (Score:2)
Why do you think Sony is pushing so hard for Blu-Ray in the PS3? It's certainly not because they expect it will sell more games. They're willing to endanger their console dominance for the Blu-Ray drive.
Their plan is simple. They're hoping that the PS3 will sell as well as the PS2 did. You're right - there's very little reason to buy an HDTV movie player right now. However, there is a large market for next-gen consoles. They're hoping to capitalize on the PlayStation's success and, at the same time,
Re:Betamax Revisited (Score:2)
This is simply a replay of yesterday's FUD-fest over DMA and battery life on the iPod.
The new DVD format should piggyback on the old technology and be founded on OPEN standards.
There are a half-dozen or so manufactuers world-wide with the financial backing, engineering talent and production lines needed to make HD hardware mass-market.
There are a half-dozen or so content providers whose backing you must have if your HD product is to be commercially viable. I
Don't believe the hype. (Score:3, Interesting)
SONY is a hydra (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me illustrate with an example: Sony regularly names Sony as a defendant in copyright lawsuits.
Sony Corporation is: several mini-divisions of Sony Electronics (Walkmans, stereo gear, camcorders, TVs, phones, not to mention an entire division dedicated to pro-level broadcast hardware and Betacam SP); a large media arm in Sony-BMG Music Group which has its own problems, Sony's movie studio - again, schizo in performance but huge and sprawling; Sony's various software divisions (SCE*), in NA, Japan, and Europe; 'online' or SonyConnect verisons for each of those again...not to mention weirdo initiatives like Sony Ericsson (very successful)...
You see where I'm going with this. Here's an article [post-gazette.com] that does a good job summing it up.
It is pointless to discuss an entity called SONY as if it were a coherent entity. It is more like the EU. Very competitive, aligned loosely, but basically all fighting each other tooth and nail for internal dominance, which usually translates to external dominance. This has been Sony's culture for a long time, only recently changing under their new CEO (a Welsh guy, another first for the corporation).
If you ask Sony's hardware guys about the iPod, most of them will readily concede that they were soundly thrashed by Apple. iPod is the new Walkman, no doubt. Sony could have competed with Apple if they didn't have the content arms sniping at them throughout the development process (and also if they had let go of certain insane engineers who loved minidisc a little too much).
So when you guys are boycotting Sony products - a principal I do not disagree with - I do have to wonder a little if you know exactly what you are boycotting. Sony-BMG are bastards, I deal with them all the time and they really just are the epitome of the 'evil record label'. Sony hardware is a completely different entity, and they more or less hate Sony-BMG as well. When you stop buying Sony TVs and whatnot, you are actually punishing the guys who are (now somewhat successfully) pushing against the DRM in the hardware. They hate this shit, and they know what consumers want (mostly...). DRM comes from the media arms, and its dictating product design inside Sony, and that is the battle.
What I am saying is, you need the carrot and the stick. Don't buy Sony-BMG music, they cam eup with the rootkit. DO buy those Sony products that are free of DRM. The message will be clear. I have a Sony Ericsson phone (W600i) and it does not have any DRM for loading and playing music, short of the veil necessary to keep you from beaming pre-canned content into other phones. it actually is the iTunes phone that everyone wanted, and no one shipped, including Motorola/Apple. My iTunes collection, all uninfected MP3 and AAC, loads (both directions) and plays beautifully.
Sony Electronics has typically kept the underperforming divisions from showing up more drastically on the balance sheet (PS2) but they are suffering now as well. Let's hope the hardware guys win over the media guys.
Howard Stringer (Score:3, Interesting)
Putting him in charge was a solid kick to the nuts for all of Sony's hardware businesses. He doesn't control everything, but he functions as a tie breaker when the two sides disagree. And he is *always* going to come down on the side of more locked down content. I wouldn't be surprised if the decision to
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
I understand what you're saying, but I think the message will be even clearer if I just don't buy anything from any part of Sony. Maybe it's only Sony-BMG that is bad, but they've degraded the name. Sony Electronics should drop the name "Sony" if it doesn't want to take responsibility for the actions of other users of th
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
Sure, that makes sense, but only from a human perspective. From a corporate view, money talks the loudest. If they noticed a sharp downward spike in all DRM'd products, they will
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
When I don't buy minidisc.net, it's because its all lies
When I don't buy sony digicams, it's because their MS/Pro/Super Pro have failed to work EVEN with their OWN hardware so many times due to design errors. (I count 3)
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
Re:SONY is a hydra (Score:2)
I understand your point about paying a price for irresponsible actions in the marketplace, but really the only thing they can do is retract discs in a prompt manner (which they did not) and try to mitigate and apologize. The brand has way too much invested in it to just abandon it.
Besides, would you really have given them a free pass if the timeline had gone like: SONY rootkit discovered,
While not a native speaker... (Score:4, Funny)
"With high definition writable media appearing already, will the price drop soon enough to help me overcome the real obstacle to backing up my exsisting commercial DVDs, cost of single media large enough to hold them that is playable in a player?"
Re:While not a native speaker... (Score:2)
At least, except from "single media" it makes perfect sense to me.
the real obstacle to backing up my exsisting commercial DVDs
[is the]
cost of single media
[a single media]
that is playable in a player
With high definition writable media appearing already, will the price drop soon enough to help me overcome [this obstacle]
I'd bet that there is a linguist way to mark up and straighten such senctences.
k2r
My #1 Demand on Sony... (Score:2)
Re:My #1 Demand on Sony... (Score:2)
Digital Hole (Score:2)
hehehehehe
Re:Maybe it is just me waking up (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Maybe it is just me waking up (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah, but out of HD-DVD or BR-DVD... (Score:2)
Re:Yeah, but out of HD-DVD or BR-DVD... (Score:2)
In fact both systems are the same deal -- whether you can use component HD is up to the DRM policy that the studio stamps onto the disk.
Re:Digging a hole (Score:2)
I'll remind you that Sony did in fact file a brief in favor of Grokster in MGM v. Grokster.
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:2)
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:2)
Get a clue.
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a two year old daughter. She's fond of Monster's Inc., Yellow Submarine and those damned Baby Einstein DVDs. She's also fond of touching the disks themselves. I own legally purchased store-bought copies of all the aforementioned titles. You think my desire to back them up is nonsense? Now THAT's nonsense!
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:2, Insightful)
Though, I really love your touching heartfelt story of your daughter, her love for monsters inc, and her coiincidental love of touching the disks themselves. how convenient!
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:4, Interesting)
The fact of the matter is that, whatever pseudophilosophical bullshit exceptions people give here (such as the "wink wink" 'backing up my DVDs' nonsense of the submitter), the underlying problem is still the willingness of ordinary people to engage in acts of willful copyright infringement simply on the basis of the belief that their chances of being caught are low.
1. Backing up our DVDs so my daughter doesn't destroy them is not a "pseudophilosophical bullshit exception;" it's a fact of life. I don't much care if other people want to make copies of DVDs to distribute illegally. That's not my concern, nor is it my problem.
2. The underlying problem is not my willingness to engage in an act of copyright infringement. It is instead the fact that I currently CANNOT make a fair use backup copy of my own DVDs without breaking the law (thank you, DMCA).
I considered defending myself against your implication that I'm lying about my daughter, but instead I'll just issue the age-old curse:
"Just wait until you have kids of your own!"
There's already a solution... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody WANTS DRM.
Nonsense. The media companies love DRM because of the market control it gives them.
willingness of ordinary people to engage in acts of willful copyright infringement
Gosh, when the vast majority of people disagree with your view of the world then maybe it's your view which is at fault?
People have been sharing with friends and acquaintances since the dawn of time.
the underlying problem is still the willingness of ordinary people to engage in acts of willful copyright infringement simply on the basis of the belief that their chances of being caught are low.
No, the underlying problem is IP companies who feel they have a right to unlimited profits for the one piece of work at the expense of the general population. And due to broken IP law are currently getting away with it.
There is also a problem with lying astroturfers [wikipedia.org] who fraudulently misrepresent company propaganda as a personal opinion and also repeatedly spam discussion groups with their propaganda but that's another story.
---
It's wrong that an intellectual property creator should not be rewarded for their work.
It's equally wrong that an IP creator should be rewarded too many times for the one piece of work, for exactly the same reasons.
Reform IP law and stop the M$/RIAA abuse.
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:2)
the underlying problem is IP companies who feel they have a right to unlimited profits for the one piece of work at the expense of the general population
The Incredibles represents an investment of $90 million dollars and the labor of four hundred people.
It is not the general population that benefits from piracy.
It is the subset with a midline PC or better and a broadband connection.
It is the subset within that set which is
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:3, Insightful)
The fact of the matter is that, whatever pseudophilosophical bullshit exceptions people give here
You do realize that copyright itself counts as a "pseudophilosophical bullshit exception" to physical reality, right? You don't have a natural "right" to control copying and distribution of something just because you happened to put a particular combination of words/notes together, of which 99.99% of your "creation" already
Canadian RIAA says they were wrong re:file sharers (Score:2, Interesting)
Did you see an earlier story from yesterday evening, it is here [slashdot.org] and it is about how the Canadian RIAA has contradicted it's previous public statements?
Did you also see the article [slashdot.org] about how DRM costs 25% of a mobile systems battery power?
Here [slashdot.org] is an example of how the US government is investigating price fixing.
Do all the above examples validate piracy? No, I don't think so. Do they validate DRM? hell no! I will never buy media strangled with DRM. Ever.
Re:The underlying problem is still piracy. (Score:3, Insightful)
It is not possible to successfully find some 'loophole' in the concept of fair use. There's simply no such thing because fair use by definition is a fungible thing that relies on reasonable human judgment to decide when too much is too much. Therefore, the very fact that you attempt to use some loophole pretty much in itself no longer makes your actions fair use.
What on earth do you think you are talking about. No one in their right mind would go looking for a loophole in a concept. The idea of a loopho
Economics applications (Score:2)
Your logic and reason are not welcome here.
Re:HINT, PEOPLE (Score:3, Informative)
Launch Lineup Neither Sufficient Nor Necessary (Score:2)
Re:Launch Lineup Neither Sufficient Nor Necessary (Score:2)