DRM "technology" is essentially just propritary formats and protocols on steoroids with all the interoperability problems which comes with proprietary products.

It seems that Microsoft is fully aware of this and reading this CES news it seems that the format wars has taken to a new level:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/technology/ces_gates/

So this leaves one wondering whether there will be any space left for non-Windows-DRM based products, like the Genesi Home Media System.

We are working on a few things and will post on this next week. We think the Sun will help us shine through the "clouds."

R&B

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I must admit... I'm struggling to restrain my sceptism.

I've read the published DReaM material and found no solution to the interoperability problems ... only positive thing I can say is that Sun claims that it can be freely implemented.

Hi, there is no doubt we will have a canned solution from day one. There is still far too many people that do not want or respect DRM. Sun's offering is a step in the right direction, but this real solution needs to be more oriented on this (from a blog early last year):

The easier it is to copy music or video or whatever, the less of a problem piracy really is. When piracy gets easier, pirates will have less to offer or said another way -- all pirates will be fans. There are ways to organize an economy around fans -- especially when you can offer a better/cooler/more convenient way to do what they do already - see iPod success. An OPEN and "trusted" platform that leverages computing to do old things in new ways is key. The solution to DRM is a choice made in the name of a better technology inspired entertainment solution and user agreement. Think entertainment not "songs" or "videos." If we can create an environment that opens up a secure and accountable link between the artist and the audience they will both come. If we can create this possibility it will fuel the creativity to empower technology to meet a demand that won't go away. What we are doing is setting up an artist/audience oriented distribution network.

More later...

In the meanwhile, check this out: iTunes Originals - Sheryl Crow

Hear talking about the songs...

R&B

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Well...

As a computer scientist I don't "respect" DRM in the sense that it is mostly people trying to sell snake oil to the media-industry through undocumented incompatibilties and proprietary data formats and protocols even though there can be no real security offered by it.

Read:
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/index.php?p=214
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/index.php?p=578
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_through_obscurity
http://cryptome.org/futile-cp.htm

The only technology I can respect from a professional standpoint is stuff like the trusted computing group is doing. This actually has a purpose and a decent chance of solving the problem it tries to solve. Whether it's going to solve the piracy-problem is another story though.
However... when evaluating TCG, you must remember the problems it brings with it. As proposed it does transfer important control of the computer from the owner to the producer with all the security, privacy and competition problems that will give.
EFF has an excellent discussion:
http://www.eff.org/Infrastructure/trust ... 001_tc.php

Also read this quote. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2 ... mputi.html

As a consumer, I don't want DRM.
The reason being that DRM consistently steps on fair use. I do not engage in piracy and I don't like as a paying consumer to get the products I buy crippled. When I buy music and listen to it privately, I do not want to be dictated that I can't convert it to Ogg-files and hear it while I go jogging.


Now, ... With the sparse information avaiable about Suns DReaM project, I can understand that it has two parts. One which is about access, just using a REL to govern the access. This is not a problem... such systems have existed for long and does not interfere with fair use. (Think sattelite decoderes). The other part (MMI) seems to rely on some kind of "trusted" computing of which not much is said. I look forward to see how it handles the problems EFF points out and how it interfaces with Open Source development, which could get severely stiffled, if the platform can not support the fast pace incremental development model.


Regarding iTunes. How do you expect to be able to buy iTunes music from a Pegasos system?

Actually, we can with Mac-on-Linux.

iTunes knows nothing.

Your post is good. Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

R&B

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But you do realize that what is meant by "trusted platform" - however open and royalty free it might be - is a way for Apple to prevent you cryptographically from doing that on anything other than their hardware and their software?

Sure, but this is still the present.

Ultimately, we have to make a distinction between security and privacy. That will be the key to settling the matter of DRM. Contrast mobile phones with computers, how you buy them and how you use them. The way you pay for what you do is vastly different because you willingly exchanged information about yourself up front to be able to make a telephone call from anywhere. Has your carrier ever had trouble charging you for roaming calls - even when you are out of your country?

Security is a matter of technology.

Privacy is a matter of choice. I will tell you about me and I will allow you to attach that recognition to my usage because I want what you offer. Anonymity is still possible with pre-payment.

When the entertainment industry understands this they will create new forms of entertainment that I can only get when I willingly exchange information about myself in advance (or I pre-pay). To be honest that is what iTunes is all about: a digital distribution system. And, be sure GoogleVideo is thinking along the same lines.

R&B

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I have no problem with authenticating to get access.
But "trusted" computing is not (only) about authenticating you (as a payin customer), it's also abut authenticating your computer and its software.

Which brings me back to the original point. Entertainment industry needs to create entertainment which they are willing to give to a pegasos, running software which is probably not the mainstream client.

Yes.

Have you thought of running this in a slimmed down webbrowser?

Tarantella is basically a VNC client embedded in a webbrowser (it uses Java). So if your machine has Java 1.5 (we use the IBM release) and you can bring up a web browser full-screen, then you can use Windows, Mac OS X, Solaris, etc. all at the same time from inside that webbrowser. Each tab of your webbrowser has another operating system....

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???... I guess this was supposed to be an answer to some other thread?

...not really. Take Apple's iLife software packet as the perfect example of what we need: a collection or relatively simple applications (nothing PRO), that runs only on Mac OS X. We need a collection of commercial applications tied in to Pegasos HAL/OF. The Linux market hasn't got many commercial-grade applications. They are glad they have openoffice! So, there is a lot of opportunity to create or license proprietary applications for which there is a large demand, which we can make unique to PowerPC+HAL/OF. The simplest thing to create would be a remote-controllable menu system like MythTV, Apple Frontrow, or Microsoft Media Center. With the right pr/marketing, this can be a really hot thing for Linux and later MorphOS.

Anyway, see DRM comments here:

http://bbrv.blogspot.com/2006/01/ucompoogle.html

R&B

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Hmm... ok. I see no way, what so ever, that VNC or VNC like systems could be a solution to anyones DRM problems. Sorry...
Yes... creating software is (relatively) simple, but I bet you that pr/marketing and especially becoming "trusted" and being allowed access to the content needed to be competitive is not that simple.

As an example. In Denmark we have a system called "Phonofile", which delivers content to most online music shops (iTunes excepted). Rightowners made their terms for allowing this system very clear: Use Microsoft DRM or forget it.

...which is why the content itself needs to be new and compelling. The success of DRM will only be achieved with a new twist on the same things people do already. When that happens something beyond what one is allowed to do in Denmark will change. At least that is what we think...

Thanks for the discussion!

R&B

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