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SightSound To Distribute Films Via Gnutella

Posted by timothy on from the no-possible-use-but-pernicious-wrongdoing dept.

asonthebadone writes: "The online video firm SightSound.com plans to distribute feature movie content with Gnutella. The film content will be 'protected' by Microsoft's Digital Rights Management System. The article from CNET goes on to quote various security 'experts' as stating that Gnutella is "fundamentally insecure" and that its usage would sow the "seed of one's destruction". If you're looney enough to run a file of unknown origin with a .vbs extension, that would be referred to as Darwinism." (More)

Carnage4Life writes with more details: "Sightsound has put up for grabs on the Gnutella network a dozen encrypted movie files from Miramax Films, for which SightSound has secured online distribution rights. Once people obtain the file, they are required to rent or purchase a license to view the movie. [...] If this works this could spell the beginning of the embrace of online digital distribution of movies, music and other forms of IP by the entertainment industry. Maybe then all the Napster madness will be over."

So long as it's a greater inconvenience (or a large enough moral dilemma) to crack such files for a critical mass of people, it seems like everybody could win here.

3 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Crack em! by dirk · · Score: 5
    I, for one, would not pay. In fact, I would immensly enjoy trying to crack this protection scheme. I would enjoy trying to crack it way more than I would enjoy watching the film. An I would enjoy watching a film I cracked (or recieved a cracked copy of) way more than watching a film I paid for.


    So what you are saying (and apparently the moderaters agree with you) is that all the people that have been spewing about "If they make something easy to get and affordable on the net, we'll buy it instead of steal it" is a huge load of crap? Here is something that is distributed in the "great new way" everyone wants, yet no one is willing to pay for it, because it will be cracked and available for free. Once again, it is proven that high prices don't cause piracy, piracy is justified by bitching about high prices.

    --

    "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
  2. The apple. RIAA and MPAA in the garden of Eden by Money__ · · Score: 5
    RIAA, MPAA and Microsoft in the garden of eden with Adam and Eve.

    1) Eve can't eat the apple.
    2) Adam can't eat the apple.
    3) Eve can't copy the apple.
    4) Adam can't tell Eve about the ATI (Apple Tree Interface).
    5) Eve can't inform Adam about the ATI because of the click thru EULA (Eden User Licence Agreement).
    6) Adam can't use the trademarked word apple without the expressed writen consent of god and monday night football.
    7) Eve can't walk around eden with the apple in her hand without first ataining the exclusive distrubution rights from AAE (Apple Association of Eden).
    8) Adam is prohibited from making apple sauce or using any other "compression algorithm" on the copyrighted apple.
    9) Eve is prohibited from telling Adam about the apple sause maker because it would be contributing to the use of compression tools in order to facilitate piracy.
    10) Neither Adam ore Eve are permitted to make caramel apples as that would be using encryption and obfuscation on copyrighted materials with the expressed intent of unauthorized distribution.
    11) The snake can only sell the apple at a minimum advertised list price of $17.99.
    ___

  3. the apple by Signal+11 · · Score: 5
    Something needs to be said about the concept of the forbidden apple. The Romans tried to stop christianity. Christianity became popular. Drugs were made illegal in this country. Drugs became popular. Rock music was chastized by the establishment as being "satanic". Rock becomes popular. Anyone starting to see a pattern here?

    Now, music becomes illegal to download. Downloading music becomes popular. As any sysadmin who has made the claim that their system is "uncrackable" will tell you, saying that something is impossible is a very good way of drawing engineers in - like moths to fire.

    So Microsoft goes out and builds this standard. Then they say it's impossible. Then, to top it off, they make it illegal to crack it. Who shall be the first to taste the forbidden apple?