Media consortium promises better DRM
Studios rebel against Apple dominance
A BUNCH OF MEDIA companies has decided to have another crack at DRM by forming a consortium dubbed the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE).
Before you dismiss this as another flash-in-the-pan it's worth noting that, with the single exception of Walt Disney, every other major Hollywood studio has joined the cause. Furthermore a raft of technology companies has also signed up, including Alcatel-Lucent, Best Buy, Cisco, Comcast, Fox Entertainment, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Philips, Sony, Toshiba and Verisign. Some very heavy hitters indeed, but again with a noticeable exception, namely Apple.
According to Mitch Singer, the DECE's president, the consortium is hoping to, "enable a single, uniform digital media experience," making it easier to download music and movies from the internet and share them across all the media devices you own.
According to Singer, Apple hasn't actually refused to join the group yet, but he added that the lack of any fruit-based company is not necessarily a bad thing as DECE is "focusing on is a different type of consumer that really wants more choice."
Given Apple's dominance of the media download market and its very strong feelings on the topic of DRM and the sharing of media across platforms that don't bear the Apple logo, we can't say we're surprised it doesn't want to play with the others.
The fact that Steve Jobs sits on Walt Disney's board probably has nothing to do with the studio's absence from the DECE.
It looks like the group wants to try and find a happy medium between piracy protection and freedom by making a way for people to be able to create a repository of all their devices and services, allowing complete interoperability between all the providers, content and devices.
It also wants to make access easier by allowing people to store content they have bought online and stream to any internet enabled device, thereby removing some of the restrictions typically associated with DRM protected media.
According to Singer the consortium is taking the "lessons learned from the successful 'buy once, play anywhere' experience that we enjoy with CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray today."
So far the details of how this much freedom will actually protect the content is sketchy with more information only promised at next year's CES in January, but we do know that sites that adhere to the group's new standard will have a shiny logo they can display to let visitors know about it. µ
L'Inq
FT
Comments
No way...
I need to write a letter to these idiots. It would go somehting like this:Dear Media consortium,
You have already burned your chance at DRM. Please give up. I think enough of us have been burned by your ham-fisted attempts at software development. I flat out REFUSE to load any more of your intrusive DRM schemes and also refuse to be your beta tester for your new DRM scheme.
You are driving me away as a customer. You have been warned.
-Ax
STOP DRM
I have a simple message for the MAFIAA: I will not buy any DRM infested product.Pull the other one...
"It looks like the group wants to try and find a happy medium between piracy protection and freedom..."DRM has very little to do with piracy protection (if anything it promotes piracy). It's all about the "Media consortium" being made up of control freaks. They want to tell you just what you can do with THEIR media (you don't own it!). NO resale, NO sharing, and you WILL pay again for the next new format when they want to sell you another copy of everything you already own^h^h^h rent.
Freedom? You will be able to do the same things you do now with an MP3 file... for a small fee, paid monthly, in advance.
better DRM?
"Better DRM" is like humane execution. It might be easier on you, but you are still dead.As long as you want to tell me how I can use the stuff I buy I will continue not to buy.
insanity
they just won't give up the ghost. It doesn't matter how compatible it is; thats not the point. Why should anyone be subject to this at all? If we purchase something then it is ours. What we do with it is none of their business and their permission is not wanted nor required.Just another attempt to
a) kill the Apple store (or at least make Apple accept the movie and music industry terms for the store and b) get a a drm-system implemented that is buried in every consumer electronic device, so that they all are beholden to the whims of the movie and music industries (so you have to pay both a tax/licensing fee to them just to purchase the device, AND to pay for the content at whatever price and however the industry chooses to bundle it with.This is ALL about making sure the industry gets to say what you can do with with the content you buy.
Could be OK
I would support this if it also allows playback on Open Source platforms like XBMC and Linux. I believe the developers of those platforms would support this technology if the Media Consortium releases the details required.Of course this would probably make it easier for crackers to bypass the DRM but DRM cracks always appear anyway, so it becomes a choice of the following:
A) Support Open Source, Have a greater paying market share and have your content cracked.
B) Don't support Open Source, Restrict the potential market size, Offer a product with reduced functionality and have your content cracked anyway.
I use XBMC a lot - it's a fantastic product but doesn't support any DRM so none of the currently available DRM content is of any use to me. I would happily accept a situation where I download a TV show from bittorrent and when I go to play it it pops up "Purchasing this TV episode will cost $5US, Do you accept...". My only requirement would be that I then own the file and can play it on whatever device I wish - which is what this consortium is talking about.
What I absolutely won't accept is a solution that requires me to use proprietary MS, Apple or Sony products.