Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Content Control in Mobile Devices

Posted by michael on from the one-ringtone-to-rule-them-all dept.

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.

3 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Be an informed customer by RC514 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't buy what you don't want. It is that simple.

    --

  2. Unbeatable Method of Defeating Content Control by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The big media companies keep talking about content control. The ultimate goals of content control are to charge every single person who partakes of the content every time they partake of the content and also to install such a formidable barrier of entry to the content generation business that the only way to publish your work on a large scale would be to enter into contracts unfavorable to you with some giant mega-corporation.

    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?

  3. Repeat after me ... by Aceticon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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 ....