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Content Control in Mobile Devices
BigJim.fr writes: "Mobile operators envision the handset as the ultimate closed platform providing an opportunity to regain end to end control over content distribution. Right to replay from Total Telecom provides insight into how they imagine user-hostile digital right management systems in the near future." Excellent article.
Don't buy what you don't want. It is that simple.
Does anyone actually want to watch videos on a mobile phone? There is a huge assumption being made by the proponents of 3G that people will actually pay to do this - whether they're paying for content or bandwidth or both they'll have to pay one way or another.
'"By definition a standard drm is less secure than a proprietary one," says Gregg Makuch, senior product manager for mobile product and services at Seattle-based Realnetworks.' I find this hard to accept. Certainly a standards-based drm is verifiably more secure than a proprietary one, and all too often proprietary standards rely on obscurity or a smug belief in the superiority of the technology, without it having stood up to peer review by experts (remember GSM encryption?).
"When the listener opens his email he finds the track and licence in his mailbox and may play the music. The content owner - in this case Radio 538 - has the choice to allow cd burning or not; to listen for a week, a month, or forever - whatever they agree to with the artist can be set in the business model."
Ok, so I pay for this track, probably can't burn it, move it to another device, I don't know how long I have it for, and they can take it from me at anytime? This is a good thing?
It's a good thing we are all sheep to be led blindly through the world. Technology like this scares the hell out of me. I pray people will wake up and say gosh damnit, we are tired of this shit and we ARE NOT going to take it anymore.
Sent from your iPad.
What I am about to tell you is 100% legal under the DMCA (Not that that will prevent these companies from attempting to file lawsuits.) It is an absolutely effective method of defeating any content control, and it is your only hope of retaining any rights against the giant mega-corporations. It is so dangerous to them that I am really surprised that they have not yet attempted to pass a law to stop it forever.
What's this big secret (I hear you cry?) It is simply this: Don't consume their content. Do some research. Find that club that's playing that local band. Go see a live play. Find other ways to amuse yourself. Dropping those multiple billions of dollars a year that we collectively spend into the local economy rather than into the pockets of some mega-corporation would take its toll fairly quickly.
Someone's bound to reply "You could write your congressman" but come on -- Your congressman gets a letter from you and from Sony. The Sony letter has a nice fat check in it. Guess which letter he's going to open first. Guess which one he pays the most attention to. The Enron collapse demonstrates just how much power the corporations actually have in this country, and Congress may make mouth-flappy-noises about campaign finance reform but it is not going to happen. They'd never put any teeth into any laws they make even if they do pass some. Americans just didn't get pissed off enough about it.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
A mobile phone is a device for social iteraction.
....
That's right boys and girls - the biggest use of mobile is to comunicate with other people.
Now comes 3G - brand new, lotsa bandwidth.
What's the first thing the so-called industry experts think about?
- Let's use mobile phones as a way to deliver content to people - basically a glorified pay-per-use portable televison and radio in one.
Immediatly followed by:
- Let's protect the content from being redistributed by the users - no sending of copyrighted music to your friends buddy.
Wake up!!!
If instead of all this bulls*it mobile phone companies would create an open architecture that allows costumers to send anything to other costumers ( the mother of all P2P services ) there could be loads of money to be made ( just charge by the KByte ).
Cheeesh
Today's music pieces generally run from two to four minutes in length, consist of perhaps two verses and one chorus (repeated several times), with a repetitive melody and perhaps-- at most-- an innovative solo. The content of the song is so much more limited than that of a movie that analysis is just not possible without continuous playback.
Of course, today's popular music fans are certainly not out there to analyse their music, right? What, then, is the basis for their enjoyment of a song? Consider this: the best reaction to a song (that the song creator would hope for) would be a simple "Hey, I like this." It's much more of a knee-jerk reaction. The music somehow stimulates some sort of pleasure nerve, and we derive enjoyment from the song. As humans, we want all the pleasure we can get, and would thus want to hear the song again.
This is the reason that the entire music recording industry exists: the consumer's desire for repetition. We (generally) never bought CDs, cassette tapes, records, et cetera, just to listen to them once. It's going to be an uphill battle for single-serving music distributors.
Play it again, Sam.