jhonny writes "Sony announced a new DRM technology called OpenMG X. Basically it keeps track on how many times you played/viewed (or tried to copy) your product and sends these statistics to the copyright holder."
Now that Sony's computer division is on the same page as their music division, it is time to boycott all their products, not just their CDs. Don't buy anything from Sony.
Funny, but I always thought of Sony, et. al. as *CONSUMER* electronics companies, not slack-jawed Yes Men for the Hollywood Mafia.
Sony is the Tokyo branch of the Hollywood Mafia (MPAA's board of directors list on their 'about' page has Sony listed right after Disney). As an added bonus, the name Sony appears no less than 10 times on the RIAA membership list, without even counting the sub-labels that don't carry the Sony name, but are still wholly owned by Sony.
Sony Music was the first major label to quit accepting open CD returns. They're the reason that very few stores accept opened CDs for a refund. They sent out this letter saying that since they don't manufacture defective CDs that they will no longer accept open returns. They said they'd give us about 10 cents on each CD to take care of returns that customers would have. Since then, they've reduced that amount to about 6 cents. Within a month of that original letter, our store got returned a bunch of open Sony CDs from customers - the problem? They bought Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits only to find Simon & Garfunkel inside the case.
I relate this story to warn everyone that Sony is tenacious, arrogant company that will follow through on their threats. Think about how long they stuck with Beta or now they are trying to jam SACD down everyone's throats.
We consumers think of Sony as a consumer electronics company, but Sony's number one priority is use its consumer electronics division to protect its movie and music division's profits. Sony will be at the forefront of any scheme to enforce DRM in your stereos and dvd players.
Off topic aside: Heya PK! Cool seeing you here! What's new?
This is upsetting. I wasn't aware of Sonys role in making it impossible to return CDs. I just finished reading "Inside The Xbox" where they related stories of how sony would threaten gaame developers if they co-operated with the Xbox developers.
Sony does sound like an arrogant company hell bent on controlling everyone and everything. One point I disagree with you on though is SACD. Im anxiously awaiting a widespread adoption of a higher resolution audio format such as SACD or 2channel DVD Audio.
>awaiting a widespread adoption of a higher resolution audio format such as SACD or 2channel DVD Audio
So am I:o) I've played with both, and I like SACD better the DVD-Audio... But Sony, here again has made the process way harder. By refusing to cooperate with the DVD Audio group they splintered the market. The DVD Audio group was a consortium of companies trying to come up with a plan where Sony decided to go their own route. Hence we're stuck with two competing formats with neither getting a foothold.
PS I forgot one on my list of pig-headed sony formats - the infamous Mini-Disc!
on the subject of names, isnt it kinda offensive they use the term "open"? I mean, the Open Source Initiative doesnt own the rights to the word, obviously. but isnt it somehow misleading or deceptive or some kind of annoying they should use "open" like a generic buzzword here? "Open" as the suggestion of being something specific, which this is almost certainly not. it would be like me making a beef product and calling it Vegi-Stuff.
what are they claiming is especially open about this piece of software?
Let's talk about how they paid off (it's legal) every store around so they wouldn't carry DC games and killed the system so their PS2 would go off without a hitch...
I supposed you have more class than MJ? Get a life and quit slurping on MJ ****!
Re:And they'll call it:
by
PainKilleR-CE
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· Score: 1
lol, here I go way off-topic, not that it should matter much since this thread's fairly old:
hey Lint, I should be online from home sometime this week (I lost a motherboard in the move due to a screw coming loose without my knowledge; took the opurtunity to double the MHz of my CPU, but the new system's being problematic, hopefully a bios update will solve the problems), which means I'll be in most of the usual places in IRC within a few minutes of getting everything setup properly. Finally got myself on the east coast, but it'll be a while before I'm settled in completely (lost not only the motherboard, but also my CD changer and my car's throwing a new problem at me every other week since making the trip in a bit under 3 days). Anyway, see you around, say hi to everyone;)
-- -PainKilleR-[CE]
HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Marx_Mrvelous
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Finally, a real erason for someone with a Windows machine (or Linux for that matter) to have a firewall...
--
Moderation: Put your hand inside the puppet head!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
guacamolefoo
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· Score: 3, Interesting
My thoughts exactly. The only problem is, what if Sony
requires
the product to be able to communicate with the "server module" at some point in the future? Basically, I fear a movement towards disabling hardware if reporting does not take place. This may be a first step in that direction.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
then you spoof the server. duh.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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sqlrob
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· Score: 2
And if communication uses PKI, how do you spoof it?
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Lord_Slepnir
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I remember when 3d studio max started to require a peice of hardware for their program to work. Sounds impossible? It was cracked before it came out of beta. Basically, if sony does something like this, it will take someone about an hour to write a simple DNS server that will re-route all requests to a certain server (or loopback devide) and to reply to the program how it wants to, so that for all the program knows, it's talking to the real server. Sure, they'll throw in encryption and such, but that will be breakable as well. What Sony will see as a huge investment, a lot of hackers / crackers will see as an exercise in server emulation.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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DrVxD
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· Score: 4, Funny
> f communication uses PKI, how do you spoof it? Psycho Keneitc Interference? I'll just wear my aluminium foil propeller-head beanie!
-- Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
sqlrob
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· Score: 3, Informative
PKI = Public Key Infrastructure
e.g. all communication between client and server is signed. Client encrypts with server public key, server signs with its private key. The client rejects anything unsigned or incorrectly signed. If the authentication requests are always changing (random number, time, counter are included in the signed request), replay attacks won't work.
You would need to either compromise the private key or find a weakness in the algorithm. Done correctly, that would take many years to do. By which point the newest version of the product is out and you have to start over on the attack.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Yeah well at $500,000 for the cracking and life inprisonment for the DNS, one person may do it but then they'll crack down on it and not many will follow suit.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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CrazyDwarf
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· Score: 1
I doubt this will happen any time in the near future. Sony would have to make a pretty big assumption that every PC purchased was going to be used on the internet. My wife is in the process of starting her own business, and I've been piecing together a PC for her to do her bookkeeping on. It will NOT be, in any way, connected to the internet. I don't plan on buying anything of Sony's any time soon, anyway, but I'd hate to think they'd require me to have my PC hooked up to a phone line or HSD.
-- It's easy to stand out when the general level of competence is so low.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Ayende+Rahien
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· Score: 2
Why are you going to all this trouble? You get the code, you disassemble it, you find a line that looks like this:
call AllowedToView ; Copy Right Management function
You replace it with a this:
call true ; always return true
And you are done.
--
-- Two witches watched two watches.
Which witch watched which watch?
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
AyeRoxor!
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· Score: 1
"You would need to either compromise the private key or find a weakness in the algorithm. Done correctly, that would take many years to do."
Exactly, just like DVDs.:P
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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DrVxD
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· Score: 2
-- Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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gowen
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· Score: 1
No bother, just put the code where the free world can read it, but satisfying the American governments need to protect its citizens from themselves and go on laughing up our sleeves about how the Bush administration loves to suck corporate cock.
-- Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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guacamolefoo
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· Score: 1, Offtopic
> and go on laughing up our sleeves about how the > Bush administration loves to suck corporate > cock.
Given that this is Sony, I think I see potential for a new line of bukkake films. I think that Bush may have to be blacked out, though, under Japanese pornography rules. Maybe it'd have to be anime.
I am disgusted that I know enough to have written the above post, btw. It's all second-hand knowledge. Honest.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
kalimar
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Somehow I don't think Sony cares about computers that aren't connected in some way to the 'Net. After all, one requirement of using software with this tech in it might be a connection to the internet. In which case the software would be useful off 'Net. And it you block the connection, Sony might just decide that consistutes being "off 'Net" in which case the software is, again, useless.
In truth, this doesn't bother me at all. Technology is good. It promotes innovation and research. Laws, on the other hand, are what stifle innovation and research. The way technology is used also stifles innovation and research. If this technology is used to:
a) charge per use,
b) track data about me for the purposes of selling or giving that data to someone else,
c) make my life difficult by using it to restrict my activities,
or otherwise inflict hardship upon me,
then you know what, I'll stop using the technology (if I have the option) and complain to those people in power (the RIAA, MPAA, etc) about how their use of this technology sucks and I'm not going to stand for it and my money is going to go elsewhere.
Sound futile? probably is. Until you get into significant fractions of percentage points of the population doing the same. Then those in power will probably take note. Will they do anything? Probably not until you have at least a full percentage point.
People saying that this technology is bad should think about what they say. Rather than saying that the technology is bad, point out the ways it can be used constructively (allow companies to see what sells and what doesn't) and point out the ways it can be used in bad faith (selling data, etc). Come up with constructive, cogent, and coherent reasons for why the ways listed as 'bad faith' are in truth more harmful than good, and v.v. Take those points to the people wanting to implement the 'bad faith' practices. Take them to the media (all media, not just niche media points).
<Wishful Thinking>
Example: Imagine a group of people banding together to go to the RIAA and complain about the various policies that the RIAA wants to implement. Imagine that group of people contains artists who don't agree with the RIAA. Imagine you have the data to prove it. You get enough of them together and the RIAA has to take note and realize they are hurting themselves and the artists that agree with them.
</Wishful Thinking>
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Yeah, just like DirectTV. And every time they change/strengthen it, the new pirate stuff shows up in about 2 days or so. Hmmm.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Informative
i somehow doubt sony is about to invest the amount of money required to make this product communicate using public key infrastructures. Not to meantion but there are weaknesses in anything the client can see
if i decompile the program and get a general idea of how its working you can find vulnerabilities. Now given that the data is almost always predictable in this setting the only way to screw it up is to throw in random data, a timestamp etc and make the client check for that.
Somewhere in the decompiled code has to be a compare of this value to the expected values. Just make that condition always true and your whole pk crap just goes out the window... Who cares if you cant break the message itself if you can break the application.
Security through obscurity whoohoo!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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ncc74656
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· Score: 0, Flamebait
No bother, just put the code where the free world can read it, but satisfying the American governments need to protect its citizens from themselves and go on laughing up our sleeves about how the Bush administration loves to suck corporate cock.
Given that the DMCA got passed into law on Bill Clinton's watch (and it's also worth mentioning that the regulatory climate that made the financial implosions Enron, Global Crossing et al. possible developed on his watch), I would submit that it is Clinton and his cronies who tended to go down on every fatcat who came along. Then again, if you were an American and not some smug, smarmy European with an inferiority complex, you would've known this already.
-- 20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
funkhauser
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· Score: 2
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
dakoda
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· Score: 1
Now if only disassembling really gave you comments and helpful function labels...
it'd prolly look more like:
call 0xf7840
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Oh, give us all a break.
The corporate free for all started back with Reagan, probably long before you were born.
Dolt.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
started looong beofre reagon, whos the dolt?. you partisan hack.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Erbo
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· Score: 2
And then they nail you under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and you go to jail. End of story.
-- Be who you are...and be it in style!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Mikeytsi
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· Score: 1
Of course, doing what you suggest is now illegal, thanks to the DMCA.
-- I've been called a "Fucking Dick" by better people than you.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
glesga_kiss
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· Score: 1
but I'd hate to think they'd require me to have my PC hooked up to a phone line or HSD.
It wouldn't be a first. The UK's Sky Digital satellite system comes with free installation, provided you have it hooked up to your phone line. This is paid for by the company that provides the interactive services (which use the phone line), and if you refuse you must pay a large installation fee. No one does of course.
It dials home (free call however) early morning every now and then. Who knows what it uploads. I took digital cable instead (not owned by the content provider), but it's two-way communications 24/7, so it's even more of a privacy concern. They could easily track what channel I am watching, if I flick about during commercials and so on. I've never seen any form of privacy statement from them on this.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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sqlrob
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· Score: 2
I remember (article here?) there was a clever response from DTV that destroyed pirate cards. Was there ever a workaround for that?
Are the DTV cards always 2 way communication? E.g. For every single channel change is there communication with the server revalidating the card? You could do that with every upload to a DRM enabled MP3 player.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
keep your political opinions to yourself. it could be easily argued that the bush administration is cleaning up corporate america as well.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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trayl
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· Score: 1
In your country maybe.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
skotte
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· Score: 3, Funny
the digital what?
oh! you mean that AMERICAN contrivance.. yeah, i've heard it really slows down pirating in like, somewhere.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Bush takes it up the ass! Everything that is wrong with this country was started by Reagan... furthed by Bush Sr. and now is being re-strengthed by Bush Jr. (who is an absolute idiot!)The Republicans and conservatives are the people who are fucking up American society!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
martyn+s
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· Score: 2
Actually, it started when the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are entitled the same rights that any individual has. That was around the time of Abraham Lincoln. So it started long before any of us were born.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
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martyn+s
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· Score: 1
If it were that easy, what would be so special about Open Source software??
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Moonshadow
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· Score: 2
Then you download the crack for it.
Honestly, you can't release a piece of software that employs restrictions and not expect it to be cracked. There are, and always will be, ways around this kind of stuff. A firewall is an excellent start - I'm already blocking Windows Media Player from its little "phone home" hijinks, and it's caught more than one spywre app I unwittingly installed (promptly to be uninstalled with AdAware).
If a piece of software is too hard for people to use, they won't use it. If you have to be connected to the internet in order to play a CD, people will not use it. Not everyone has always-on cable or DSL. Remember that the majority of people out there are the kind who complain if the software doesn't think for them. People don't want to have to think to use a computer - they just want it to work. If Sony is stupid enough to require some actual work and thought to use their consumer-targeted software, it will ultimately fail.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Ayende+Rahien
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· Score: 2
Well, naturally. The point is that you can more or less see where the function that does this checking is. Then just replace the call. It's not fun, of course, but it's not much trouble and has to be done only once, then it's a matter of patching a few bytes in the executable. That is the reason why most applications are so easy to crack.
--
-- Two witches watched two watches.
Which witch watched which watch?
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Ayende+Rahien
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· Score: 2
As dakoda pointed out, it's not *that* easy. It's not biggie, but it's a matter of sitting down and watching disassembled code, not fun on best of circumstances. There is also the legal view, in which it's probably wrong, but that is another matter.
--
-- Two witches watched two watches.
Which witch watched which watch?
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
The thing that makes open source software is that when you get an application you can easiliy check if it connects to DMCA and reports your ip or not.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
maybe the better question is 'It is so easy, what would be so special about closed source'
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
cotu
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· Score: 1
> Sure, they'll throw in encryption and such, but > that will be breakable as well. What Sony will > see as a huge investment, a lot of hackers / > crackers will see as an exercise in server > emulation.
Are you completely unaware of public key cryptography? How, exactly, do you propose that those hackers are going to obtain a copy of Sony's private signing key? To assert that is to assert that the public key cryptography model is fundamentally broken.
This is a classic opportunity for deploying a PKI, and it's not even all that hard of a PKI to set up since it's just the devices which would need to verify a few servers which chain back to a small number of trusted roots.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
realdpk
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· Score: 2
Well, yes, but that still doesn't explain your mistake.:)
It's been 14 seconds since you hit 'reply'!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
zbuffered
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· Score: 2
If you can't break through it, simply go around it. If the content itself is encrypted, then if the unlocking key can only be provided via an encrypted communication, wait for it to decrypt the communication that contains the key, on your machine, so that it can decrypt the content. Or wait until the content has been decrypted, and capture that. Or whatever. PKI will not be the weakest link in the chain between my content and me. I will find a way to get at it. If you're desparate, there's always the analog hole.
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
And what mistake would that be?
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
G-funk
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· Score: 2
You would need to either compromise the private key or find a weakness in the algorithm. Done correctly, that would take many years to do. By which point the newest version of the product is out and you have to start over on the attack.
Or, you could simply hack the client program, and change a jne to a je, or if you can't find the right one, you can replace the public key stored in the software with one of your own.
-- Send lawyers, guns, and money!
Re:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Wolfier
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· Score: 2
I've done something like this. With the right tools, you'll get information so adequate that function names are no longer needed.
I remember cracking something over the phone with someone who knows nothing about making his own crack on the other side. I asked him to download the debugger, disassemble, asked him for certain clues...and the program was cracked in 20 minutes from start (downloading the debugger) to finish (verifying the patch works).
It's THAT easy. Bad protection is worse than no protection at all.
On the other hand... remember DIVX?
codec for windows media player?
That is 'DivX;-)'. DivX was a 'disposable rental' disc (kinda like a MPEG-4 based DVD) that was designed to let you play in 'n' times before becoming unplayable and you could then toss the disc away [i.e. you can rent a movie but don't have to return it to the store]. The problem was a) It was expensive to buy the players, b) The quality wasn't great, c) HArdly any titles were available and d) You could only play it 'n' times.
Yeah, it's kinda like a FBI agent turnign to you and going... "Hang on a second, I have to phone the FBI and tell them you are about to sell me illegal goods. It'll only take a second. Just wait right there."
I think letting people know you are spying on them, will only tick them off, and lead to more protection against being spied on. (Or more linux, or firewalls.) But hey, won't fire walls circumvent this DRM... isn't that illegal by the DMCA? hmm... interesting.
It's kind of worse than spying. Spying, at least you're being tricked. This is really domineering (spelling?).
"We're going to watch you silly consumers, so you don't do things with our product that we don't want you to do. Why? Because we're bigger and stronger, that's why."
--
--What, you ain't know about them country fried sessions?
Ok, if the FBI, or any other government agency is required by law to do a wiretap - which is roughlyy that this "technology" is - why is it that Spyware apps, and the like can't be prosecuted under federal wiretap laws? Face it, we can't legally record our own damn phone calls - what gives Sony, or any other company, the right to monitor what we do, or how we do it? The EULA's? Somehow I doubt Sony's VIAO PC line has anything in its EULA's about this software, or thier right to run it. The way things are going with EULA's and al the copyright protection schemes, spyware and so forth, the EULA on audio CD's alone will take up the entire back over of a CD case in 4 point type.
How is it spyware if they tell you it's sending data to the copyright holder?
More likely it's actually communicating with a central service. With that service (allegedly) informing the copyright owner. Since the file itself cannot possibly know who it's current copyright owner might be.
What do you want to bet that the guy at Best Buy that is trying to sell you this thing won't tell you that it reports everything you watch? I bet it's not listed as a feature on the box either. It's most likely buried in a EULA somewhere inside the box. You won't even know about it unless you get it home and read the EULA. Shouldn't we know about these things before we buy so we don't end up wasting a lot of time buying something that is useless to us?
-- It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
It's the James Bond theory of spying. You walk right in the front door, get captured, the evil doer tells you his fiendish plan, then make a daring escape and return with a large contingent of government troops.
I'm not sure what you got from reading that link, but to me, it looks like a district court ruled EULAs unenforceable, and the the court that wrote the ruling you linked to overturned the district court's ruling and remanded it back to them. Thus EULAs remain enforceable.
-- It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
That's always been my thought. However, what happens when the game doesn't work unless it can get to Sony? You will take it back. I will take it back. 99.99% of the population will play it, happily submitting all of their demographics to Sony.
So the end result is that the only people who would do something about it get marginallised, and can only avoid it by not playing. Whee.
--
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
It appears you haven't tried to return software (or music or
movies) to some stores. Many of them will tell you "because of
current copyright laws" you can only exchange them for the
same item. Even if the product's design is defective, and
it doesn't work with any of your equipment!
Would this not be considered 'tapping' your line without reasonable suspision??? Especially if it DOES have to connect to the internet. Does Sony really need to know how many times I've watched the Tommy & Pamela Lee video??? Fuck Sony.
I just wont support them. Don't buy it. They can't force you to use it. Although, considering the FCCs recent decision to FORCE people to buy new TVs even though the one I have now and will still have in 10 years works fine, makes me wonder...
They're required to take it back. If they refuse, you should simply notify them of your intent to file suit against them. They'll probably give you a refund at taht point.
Ah! But most of them will take back software if it's still wrapped so all you do is scratch the disc or something and exchange it for another copy of the same game. Hope they don't open the new game for you. Return the new (unopened) copy at a different location. Ta-da!
Re:So...
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Or just use a credit card for the original purpose, and challenge the bill. For bonus points, call in the challenge from the store.
Government: Hey Sony, you're practicing bad business, you'd better stop or we'll shut you down. Sony: Please don't shut us down mister government! If you do all those people who need our servers to watch their movies, listen to their music, and play their video games will no longer be able to. Please! Think of the people! It isn't fair to THEM! Government: Ohh I guess you're right. As you were!
*shiver*
'Education and religion are two things not regulated by supply and demand. The less of either the people have, the less they want.
- [Charlotte Observer, 1897]'
OPen????
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
I love how the name hase Open in it. What are the chances DRM software is open sorce.
"Installation not only on PCs, but also on networked devices such as PlayStation 2, AV devices, and mobile devices"
Great..if this comes with my PS 3, I'm not buying one.
Re:PS 3
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Yeah, but on a PS3, where it's just a console and chips, who cares? It's not like it can read your financials. If Sony wants to know how many times I've played Metal Gear, Sons of Liberty (and whether I suck) who cares?
I'm more worried about personal computers. This is why I'm only buying older used machines.
Oh, you'll buy a PS3. Haven't you heard the news that it will be powerful enough to watch your body's movements via digital cameras and translate them into hyper-realistic digital virtual worlds on a processor 1,000 times more powerful than the PS2?
I think it also says somewhere in the article that you'll be able to strap it to your back and it will fly you to the moon.
Uh, just what are you going to pirate on your ps3? Heck, what are they going to report on your ps3? 'Oh, this guy spends far too much of his time playing GTA5.' So what?
Granted, I'm sure it's more for use to see if people are burning games, but I can't imagine them being able to tell the difference between a burned game and a real one. '500,000 games sold, 600,000 games in use.' Again, what are they going to do?
Nothing.
It's already hard enough tracking down someone physically with an IP. They're also under the assumption that people will plug their consoles into the network. I'd assume that it's about a half and half shot there. All depends on if they're doing first person multiplayer shooters (or stuff like UO and WCIII) on the console (and if they're doing that, I am SO in). Also, a lot of consoles are bought for kids, and somehow I doubt parents who don't know the first thing about computing are going to attempt to network the box. That's one of the main points of the console. Plug and go, easy as that.
This is just something to make themselves feel more secure. It doesn't actually effect us in a monumental way. (at least with console games)
Enough of my rambling.
-- If a and b in c, and a can create b, and a can create a, and b can create b, and b cannot create a, then a created c.
Yeah, if you blow up too many helicopters in GTA5, Sony will know and they'll send the FBI. You know, because blowing up helicopters is suspicious behavior.
Not UO but Everquest is comeing out on PS2... hey it's a sony product so of course the are working on it.. just get ready to attach a USB keyboard and mouse to the PS2..
What would it matter if it was on the PS3? It's not very likely that you're using pirated games, so what if they know how many times you played FFX? And as for the DVDs you can watch them on a PS2 that you sound like you own or the current DVD drive/player that you might have. Hell, if Sony knew how many hours I spent playing GT3 A-Spec they would have made it better than just updating GT2 and putting it on a DVD disc.
Then there is the non-console side. I agree 100% that there shouldn't be any type of thing like this. If they wanted to know what movies people like, then they should look at box office performance. If they want to know what computer games we play, sales should be a leading indicator.
And even if they did find out you were using illegal software they couldn't point you out of a crowd.....they could make the hardware stop working......that's a scary thought
It seems like the latest trend is to prefix Open on anything that's proprietary and evil to try and trick "Open Source" hackers into thinking it's not so bad.
-- A musician without the RIAA, is like a fish without a bicycle.
Yes, I was about to say, "Open, as in the anus, which Sony plans to ream repeatedly." You seem to have put it in a somewhat . . . less childish manner.
--
--What, you ain't know about them country fried sessions?
Sony believes in "OpenMG X" as an
open platform technology that should support the secure distribution of content, and we are now considering licensing this technology to hardware manufacturers and software vendors.
The announcement says nothing about being "Open Source". This will be a closed, protected program that Sony will "openly license" to hardware and software vendors. Hacking OpenMG X will be a DMCA crime, most likely.
The word "open" is REALLY getting abused lately...
I think in this context, they mean "open" like the back of a hospital gown, and the consumer is the person wearing the gown.
Oh, man. This post is going to keep me laughing all day. Bravo.
Re:OpenMG X?
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
It seems like the latest trend is to prefix Open on anything that's proprietary and evil to try and trick "Open Source" hackers into thinking it's not so bad.
And then on the other hand, when the public rise up and protest about not being Sony's cattle, Open*.* initiatives can be branded evil and any number of safe, comforting and closed systems can be introduced. Hurrah!
It's in the tradtion of the "Open Software Foundation" and "The Open Group". In the traditional sense, "open" means "more than one vendor is involved".
I think in this context, they mean "open" like the back of a hospital gown, and the consumer is the person wearing the gown...
...and being asked to bend over.
-- Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
Re:OpenMG X?
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
"Open" means "more than one vendor is involved"
We're supposed to be happy that multiple vendors might adopt this thing?
SDMI always was the mutant offspring of CopyCode and DIVX, and it looks like "OpenMG-X" (offshoot of "MagicGate" a.k.a. Sony-brand SDMI) has taken even more after the DIVX side of the family.
One very small good point
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Perhaps they will work towards a pay-per-listen strategy. Then I won't have to listen to teenagers blasting the same Brittany Spears song over and over again.
So what happens if...
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I try to copy it 1,000,000 times?
Re:So what happens if...
by
sammy+baby
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· Score: 2
You win a prize. Duh.
Re:So what happens if...
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
The counter overflows 15 times?
Re:So what happens if...
by
Tenebrious1
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· Score: 5, Funny
So what happens if...
I try to copy it 1,000,000 times?
Your puter sends 1M packets to Sony, taking down their router and server. They arrest you for launching a DoS attack on their server.
The story of your arrest gets posted to/., and we respond by generating scripts that say we're listening/sharing 500 copies of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby". Sony gives Ice a huge $80M five record contract. We laugh as Sony posts a record $2billion loss for 2002...
-- -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Re:So what happens if...
by
Dimensio
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· Score: 2, Insightful
You forgot "Sony blames their losses on music piracy, purchases Congressmen to enact laws against people having any control over their computers.
Re:So what happens if...
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
That's why one buys another PC and various other audio equipment, CDburner, etc right now, to have in resersve to avoid buying any of the new crap with the copy protection on it.
Glad I use zone alarm. It seems like their is a lot of this "phone home" technology being built into more and more applications. I like knowing whats trying to get in and out of my system and being able to accept or deny it.
Re:zone alarm
by
Lussarn
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· Score: 4, Informative
A personal firewall isn't good enough. If the software who is phoning home disables the firewall you wouldn't notice. A firewall needs to be on it's own secure box.
I guess it would use the.Disable() method on the exposed zone alarm api?
I also suggest running a firewall on its own box (as I do myself) but disabling a built in firewall would be both difficult(anything is possible though) and possibly illegal. There is no exposed API so they would have to reverse engineer is, thereby opening themselves up to legal action under the DCMA, the very thing they are trying to uphold. Kind of a paradox.
Empowering software or some other product to surreptitiously bypass end-user security protocols is never a good idea. Imagine what could happen, for instance, if some enterprising cracker(s) managed to subvert the mechanism for their own purposes. Quite aside from that, what possible need can a legitimate commercial entity have for this sort of intrusive behavior?
Conversely, this could become a selling point for the next generation of security systems: the ability to detect, and then neutralize, this manner of 'phone home' effect.
-- -
White Knight of the Order of Mihoshi Enthusiasts
hide? you mean minimize? I don't think so. Their is the task bar...
Re:zone alarm
by
Jucius+Maximus
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· Score: 4, Informative
"hope you dont allow web browsers to get through zonealarm. As it has been shown before, a program can open a URL with your default browser, then hide the window before you see it. All sony has to do is put the tracking information in the URL and submit it, bypassing zonealarm."
All you do is when you install a suspicious application, you close of ALL access via the firewall, and then you see what tries to connect via sniffers or firewall logs. If you see the iexplore.exe is unexpectedly trying to connect to a certain IP, then you ban that IP and then open up access to trusted applications again.
hope you dont allow web browsers to get through zonealarm. As it has been shown before, a program can open a URL with your default browser
That's why I've left Netscape 4 as my default browser. Anything that tries to start a URL triggers the Netscape login screen, and I just exit from that. Highly recommended...
-- Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
hide? you mean minimize? I don't think so. Their is the task bar...
internet explorer has an automation interface, and although i've never used it, it looks to have the same properties as M$office apps. Which means it could actually be hidden (not minimized) simply by setting the InternetExplorer object's Visible property to false (which is the default until you navigate somewhere).
Or remove the key that indicates any default browser (anyone know what it is, so I can test this?)
Nice trick though, somebody should up him for that one...
According to this page, Look'n'Stop 2.03b3 is able to block that technique.
--
Why did GEAR crush RDP?
Re:zone alarm
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
a program can open a URL with your default browser
I don't use the "default browser". The "default browser" won't work in Linux!
-steve springfield fragfest
Re:zone alarm
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
> All you do is when you install a suspicious application, you close of ALL access via the firewall, and then you see what tries to connect via sniffers or firewall logs. If you see the iexplore.exe is unexpectedly trying to connect to a certain IP, then you ban that IP and then open up access to trusted applications again.
Just FYI, you can only do this with the nonfree versions of ZoneAlarm; the free version doesn't have IP blocking, only app-based blocking.
Re:zone alarm
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
> Quite aside from that, what possible need can a legitimate commercial entity have for this sort of intrusive behavior?
Well, say there was a legitimate commercial entity like Sony that wanted to track the copying of CDs regardless of whatever else might be happening on the copying PC at the time..
"Just FYI, you can only do this with the nonfree versions of ZoneAlarm; the free version doesn't have IP blocking, only app-based blocking."
You might want to look into this freeware which was made by the original "Tiny Peronsal Firewall" crew. You can block based on ip, packet type and port.
And if that gives you BSODs when you permit something to access to your comp. You can Deny it first and then make a new rule manually, try the beta version available from the UK site only, or any of the other free firewalls that feature custom rules.
The software would need Administrator privileges to do that - and it should not have that. It's surprising how much software requires Administrator privileges that DOES NOT NEED IT.
I'll bet you $10 that hax0rs will crack it
by
krog
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· Score: 2
...probably within the week. anything that Phones Home can be effectively neutered by changing a few bytes.
At the same time, "OpenMG Jukebox", a content compression, management, and playback technology installed in PCs, has been developed to restrict illegal copying of music content from CDs and the Internet. This application is pre-installed in VAIO and is compatible with Sony's portable audio players
^^^Well I guess this means I won't be buying myself a new VAIO anymore. This means I can't keep my (legal) CD collection on my computer anymor. How is a computer suppose to know what is legal? If I go to Denmark, does it then knw that its' all of a sudden legal for me to have copies of my own cds?
actually from what i've gathered, OpenMG Jukebox does not take control of your collection at all.. I have it installed to transfer music to my NetMD player. It wants you to "import" your mp3s to its database and convert it to ATRAC3 (with some silly DRM policy on it). From what i've gathered on it, you can import the same mp3 file as many times as you want, thus giving you unlimted check out/check ins.
btw, i'm planning on getting that 10.4" super portable sony vaio tonight, as a matter of fact. this doesn't bother me at all, because as soon as I bring it home I plan on wiping everything it came with and putting XPPro/Red Hat on it, therefore not having to worry about any of this sillyness. (does anyone know if this voids my warranty, however?)
The last Vaio I used came with recovery CDs, so if you wiped the drive and needed support, they'd probably just tell you to restore everything with those discs.
The recovery discs have large image files on them, like Ghost images, but they're slightly different and you have to use their program to image the drive. I found this out when I wanted to transfer the cool video software the Vaio comes with to another computer.
And how long will it be before blocking their DRM management server in your personal firewall is considered circumventing the DMCA?
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
Oliver+Newland
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· Score: 0
A really, really long time. Your firewall has extremely legitimate purposes besides blocking DRM outbound requests. Plus, with the stance that the government is tacking on hackers (seeing them as terrorists), any measure to prevent "terrorism" will be most welcome. Come to think of it, if they found a way to get around your firewall, they would be in violation of the DMCA.
So... blocking the feedback in the firewall will just make it impossible for you to use the music/film/whatever you "own".
-- --
From Denmark
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
RickHunter
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· Score: 2
Err... They'd probably be in violation of the PATRIOT act. And you're also in violation of the DMCA for circumventing a "copyright protection technology". Guess the only solution is for the government to ban generic computing devices.
Oh wait...
Sorry, I forgot that they're already planning to do that. My bad.
We all *know* it's going to be part of their licensing agreement.
By walking through the store and looking at this package you agree to the following terms.
You allow Sony full access to a listing all of your media materials that can be used with this device. You allow Sony full rights to any information public or private that we deem as important in one way or another. Any thought about getting around this soul binding contract will permit full persecution by the government under which you reside and will persecute you at our request. By agreeing to this contract you agree to plead guilty to any charges brought against you by our company or any of its subsidiaries and pay any damages that we set. You also agree to not speak in a seditious way against our company or any of it's subsidiaries and also agree not to use any competing product or license of any competing company or government.
Yeah, and Algore was all hot about banning cars too - doesn't mean it's gonna happen.
How quickly they forget...
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
cliffiecee
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· Score: 1
Because at one time the very idea of a firewall being considered illegal was absurd. Nowadays, who knows what'll be deemed illegal (If you're not a corporation, that is)?
Let's all remember that the DMCA is a law specifying that circumvention of encryption in order to access copyrighted material is a crime.
1. Blocking network traffic has nothing to do with bypassing or circumventing encryption.
2. You can't "circumvent" the DMCA, you can only violate it.
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
SomeGuyFromCA
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· Score: 1
You forgot "You agree to give this product complete, unmonitored, unrestricted access to the internet to connect on arbitary ports to others' servers and download, install, and run any code it may see fit to."
-- if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence
/ freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
kin_korn_karn
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· Score: 2
yet another reason to incorporate yourself.
hmm.
I wonder how many laws you can get around if you do that..
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
borgasm
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· Score: 1
Because at one time the very idea of a firewall being considered illegal was absurd. Nowadays, who knows what'll be deemed illegal (If you're not a corporation, that is)?
The idea is still absurd. Block whatever you want. You are under no obligation to allow any traffic whatsoever to flow into our out of your computer. Now, the program may not work unless you allow it, but you certainly aren't forced to use the program either. If Sony starts selling something that people don't want to use because it violates their privacy rights then their product will not sell and they will rethink their position and discontinue it. Now, in reality, what will happen is 99% of the people are oblivious to anything their computer is doing anyone so they won't care what the program reports back. Go over and look at the average teenager's computer and there are going to be dozens of spyware programs running in the background because they've been downloading shit like Kazaa, Gator, Comet Cursor, Bonzai Buddy, etc. I had the punishment of having to clean up a relative's computer that was so infected with these viruses and trojans that the CPU was constantly loaded processing this garbage and it was like running on a 386. I refuse to give spyware programs any air of legitimacy. They are for all intents and purposes viruses and trojans maliciously infecting computer systems and using resources without the owner's knowledge. It is often difficult or impossible to remove them without causing programs to cease functioning. People that write that shit need to go to jail.
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
maomoondog
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· Score: 1
I Am Obviously Not A Lawyer, but shouldn't it be possible to avoid DMCA prosecution by describing workarounds for hypothetical schemes not yet released?
In the Future, it will probably be illegal to distribute in any centralized way (i.e. open source community =( ) anything that hurts these corporate interests. Keep lobbying now but plan for the worst.
People wanting to use their computers for non mainstream activities are going to have to hack out individual solutions and use them privately, just like the open source pioneers did. But maybe we can make it an easier (and more populist task) than it was the first time around.
There should be an organized effort to compile manuals carefully crafted to be generic and legal that allow ordinary people (and not just us code junkies) to figure out for themselves how to solve these issues.
Real code junkies who have access to good equipment are never going to be without free distribution of information. Private hacks and circles of trust will see to that. Legislation like this is only aimed at, and can only succeed at, keeping it from being a mainstream phenomenon. What we have to work hard on is to make sure we have people other than code junkies to talk freely to.
Extremely legitimate purposes don't mean anything compared to the need for crappy DRM. The DMCA has no exception for protecting your own stuff, so yes, you will be in violation if you use this OpenClosed X crap from within a firewall.
Remember that sanity has not been present in a *single* case involving the DMCA so far.
Also remember that protecting the *AA's interests is a higher priority than anything else.
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
valmont
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· Score: 2
well lemme ask you this, could you have a machine on your local network "fake" that "feedback protocol" to keep the DRM thing running? well it could very well be localhost. If their DRM thing connects to a host via hostname, and not ip address, then you can easily point that host to 127.0.0.1 in/etc/hosts, and have some local daemon running faking that feedback. mm.
I'm also curious to see what port it's guna do its communication on. I do hope they won't be totally gay and use port 80 to increase their chances at a freely open port.
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
gilroy
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· Score: 2
Blockquoth the poster:
Let's all remember that the DMCA is a law specifying that circumvention of encryption in order to access copyrighted material is a crime.
That sounds nice. A shame it isn't true. The DMCA outlaws the employment of any technology that circumvents "access control mechanisms". It does not specify what constitutes an access control mechanism. If the DRM scheme involves back-authentication to the distributor and you block that, you could conceivably be violating the DMCA.
Now, are you? Is it clear? Of course not. The DMCA is an overly broad and intentionally vague law. Exactly what falls under it has yet to be settled in court -- possibly because the people who might conceivably use the DMCA seem uneager to have it test in court. A properly cynical person might even suspect that they are afraid to have it tested in court and prefer to use the threat of it.
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
Mexican
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· Score: 1
The possibility of a DMCA violation by taking steps to disable DRM schemes that "phone home" was debated at one of the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conventions a couple of years ago. No one knows if this sort of thing is really a cause of action under DMCA because it has not been tested, if I am wrong, please feel free to cite the case, and I will happily admit the point I raised was paranoid, perhaps "crap" as you so eloquently stated. IANAL either way. Anyway, the gist of the discussion I am referring to was that even the threat of this could have a chilling effect- perhaps not on users, but on those who sell privacy software, and personal firewalls are in that group. If you don't know what I mean by a "chilling effect" to give you an example, I just spent some time trying to find a firmware upgrade for a DVD player only to find out that the manufacturer has quietly stopped releasing firmware upgrades because they can be cracked and modded to remove region codes, Macrovision, etc. The problem I had with this particular model has been widely reported by other owners, and yet, it looks like it is not going to get fixed because the product has been deemed to work "well enough" by the manufacturer, and the small, although annoying types of problems (this is a fairly mature product) will never get fixed by this manufacturer because of fear of the MPAA. Not exactly a threat to my civil rights or liberties, and not very important in the scheme of things, but it's an unintended consequence of a poorly-written law; how much more of this nonsense should we be forced to put up with because a industry with an outdated business model is fighting to keep the status quo and even extend its rights by promoting vigilante justice, and the erosion of traditional fair use exceptions to copyright law? Sounds pretty fscking absurd to me, but welcome to the real world. Perhaps I am being a bit reactionary, but I once spent over 18 months on a Federal grand jury, and I have seen more than one inappropriate application of criminal law simply as a harassment tactic - granted this was all non-IP stuff, but the same club can be used to stifle product innovation, and a host of other evils that we are only starting to see under both the DMCA and the efforts of the large IP owners to influence future laws, WIPO, etc.
And about as enforceable as the drug laws have proven to be
Re:Firewall = DMCA violation?
by
srmalloy
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· Score: 1
The DRM will need the feedback to function.
The package better say in 36-point bright red type "This product may only be used on equipment posessing an active connection to the Internet", then, or they're misrepresenting the product grossly.
And what happens when their server is inaccessible, either because the machine is down, or their network connection has failed for one reason or another? Is it an actionable denial of service if Sony, for whatever reason, fails to supply the validation end of the DRM verification process?
Pot, Kettle, Black
by
JohnPM
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· Score: 5, Informative
It's humerous that one of the biggest Japanese companies is so concerned with intellectual property. The Japanese reputation with regards to Patent enforcement is a model for the anti-Amazon burn-the-patents crowd. This is illustrated by, for example, Texas Instruments getting bent over by Fujitsu in 97.
-- Karma police, I've given all I can, it's not enough,
I've given all I can, but we're still on the payroll.
Note that they want to sell it. I don't think they are so much concerned with DRM, as they are interested in capatalising on western stupidity.
--
Science may someday discover what faith has always known.
Re:Pot, Kettle, Black
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
All Asians are like this. Primarily because they rarely create anything. They're kinda like leeches.
Re:Pot, Kettle, Black
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
...and this is due to cultural issues. Their culture rewards conformity, which in turn tends to stultify creativity, as new ideas are by definition non-conformist. However, I wouldn't say that adoption of others' ideas and improving them (sometimes) to a high degree makes them leeches.
If they want to deploy this to "static" platforms like Playstation, then it's going to be one iteration of code. Crack it once, job done, they can hardly force people to upgrade the bios in their consoles etc so there's no real reliable way of auto-deploying a patch.
Re:No real danger...
by
bowronch
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· Score: 2, Insightful
If they want to deploy this to "static" platforms like Playstation, then it's going to be one iteration of code. Crack it once, job done, they can hardly force people to upgrade the bios in their consoles etc so there's no real reliable way of auto-deploying a patch.
What if they put it into game discs? Seems like they could auto-deploy it without you ever having any idea about it...
If the 'static' plaform calls home, home can always verify what's running on the platform and upgrade it there under the guise of a 'bug-fix' or a 'maintenance release', no? In which case, people hardly have a say in whether or not they have the latest bios in their consoles.
I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
floppy+ears
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Sony says:
In future, the following capabilities will be required for DRM (Digital Rights Management) in expanding the digital content distribution business.... 3. Installation not only on PCs, but also on networked devices such as PlayStation 2, AV devices, and mobile devices.
I'm not eager to have Sony keeping track of the games and music I'm playing on my PlayStation. This is a good opportunity for Nintendo to distinguish themselves by embracing freedom.
--
"If I could live to be several hundred I could take a walk and really wander, really wonder."
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
aetherspoon
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· Score: 1
Um... no? Nintendo has no CD-based (or DVD-based) console. Maybe next time you can actually look at what the Gamecube has before you support it?
-- ---
Ãther SPOON!
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
garcia
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· Score: 1
didn't Sony make noises when MS said they were going to do much the same thing when they rolled out the Network for the XBox? Now they are doing it?
I was VERY pumped for Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 over the net... Now I am questioning my desire to purchase the LAN adapter and LAN enabled games...
Too bad most people won't know/care about this.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
On the one hand: It doesn't have spyware...yet (AFAIK) On the other hand: 1. It's Miscro$loth (although it looks like Sony might be trying to emulate them) 2. The only good game for XBox I have come across is Halo, and Gearbox is porting that to PC even as we speak. 3. The PS2 has the ultimate controller. If they change it for the PS3 I will be very disappointed in them. The XBox has a crap controller, just as bloated, badly laid out, and hard to use intuitively as the Gamecube controller. 4. The XBox itself is physically ugly and bloated.
Have a nice day!
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
nbvb
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· Score: 2
This is why I kept my Dreamcast.
What's so special about the PS2/Xbox/GC that the DC doesn't do?
Answer: Nuttin.
And I have all the neat-o accessories for the DC.... the fishing controller, the keyboard & mouse, and the oft-accused-of-being-vapor Broadband Adapter!
Yes, I actually have one. And no, I didn't get it from eBay. I bought it directly from Sega when it was introduced:)
--NBVB
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
motardo
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· Score: 1
You can play THPS3 over the net with the Playstation 2 if you use a USB network adapter.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
garcia
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· Score: 1
probably less money than the PS2 one anyway too right?
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
frunch
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· Score: 1
Um... yes? There's a difference between creating games on proprietary disks which are hard to copy and sending data about how often I play/copy a game to Sony HQ.
One of them is a violation of my privacy. I hope you don't need to be told which one.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
motardo
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· Score: 1
Yeah, I bought a 3com USB network adapter from tigerdirect.com for $5, one for my (future) PS2, and one for my TiVo Series 2, which I use now:)
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
iainl
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· Score: 1
"Nintendo has no CD-based (or DVD-based) console"
huh? Did I miss a -2 post somewhere, or something? What has the medium the game is supplied on got to do with avoiding software that monitors your activity?
-- "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
metlin
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· Score: 3, Informative
I'm not eager to have Sony keeping track of the games and music I'm playing on my PlayStation. This is a good opportunity for Nintendo to distinguish themselves by embracing freedom.
Unfortunately, little does this have anything to do with 'embracing' freedom or supporting anything that even vaguely resembles it.
It's got everything to do with marketing, and money. Sony is probably testing waters by introducing such DRM "sensitive" devices into all their products. When all the capitalistic forces jump onto the bandwagon (if it works out for Sony), the actions of other companies would be guided by market forces.
Even assuming that Nintendo does take an openview of things and says Go EFF, it'd still not do much good for Nintendo for 2 reasons -
a] The fraction of population that actually understands what Nintendo is trying to do, and buys things to help them do so would be very very small indeed. Besides, it's a good product that sells, based on the needs, immaterial of how laudable your goals are. Look what happened to Loki. They made very good products, and definitely had a great vision. But just that does not suffice in an evergrowing corpy environment.
b] If all the big players take on such measures, then Nintendo will have to follow suit, else they risk being sued/litigated to kingdom come. If some performer claimed that because Nintendo lacked the technology to prevent abuse, people were pirating, Nintendo would be up against the wall.
Also, in the article - "OpenMG X" flexibly adapts to the distribution of content to PCs, as well as services which distribute content directly to AV and mobile devices.
Now that would be a killer. Because, right now the only people who can actually help you here are the PC Industry manufacturers. As long as they don't stick up an OEM deal to you that voids your hardware if you do not own their "h4xor pr00f 4nt1 p1r4cy" software or something like that, it's good for us. But once you get embedded software onto the ROMs that would do something along the lines of what Sony is suggesting, then the bells start tolling.
Until them, we have some (borrowed?) time.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
13Echo
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I love that machine. My next project is to buy a second one, so that I can tweak Linux and BSD for it (There's no way I would hack up my black ltd. ed. Dreamcast). If you like soldering, you can even add an interface for a NIC and an IDE hard drive.
Truely, the Dreamcast is one of the greatest little game boxes ever made. In my opinion, it was way ahead of its time, and represents some of the finest engineering ever seen in a game console. Even though the Gamecube and X-Box outpower the little Dreamcast in many way, the little DC could still handle most of today's games without a problem. It will live on as a legend, especially with all of the homebrew DC development that is keeping it alive.
I'm glad that I still have about 60 games, most of which I still haven't had time to play.:) But when I do get a chance to play my Dreamcast, it usually represents some of the fiest gaming that I have seen for years. It was becoming a perfect mecca of gaming goodness, and yet, most people didn't seem to notice, or care... They were proccupied with hype and name-brands.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
aetherspoon
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· Score: 1
Talking about monitoring usage in games and music. Hard to monitor usage on music when it can't play music CDs, no?
-- ---
Ãther SPOON!
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Soul Reaver on DC was and is a great entertainment experience, I get scared when I play it. Although, I'm sure it would that way on other platforms too. I don't own it on other platforms though.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Soul Reaver was a shitty PSX to DC port, with very few DC optimizations.
As far as ports go, it was a gyp... But it is still a good game.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
Patrick
·
· Score: 2
I think it's time to buy a Microsoft X-Box::ducks::
You say it in jest, but the suggestion is actually apt for the thread at hand. The X-box plays CDs and even allows me to rip them to the internal hard drive and use them as background music while I play games. And Microsoft can't put spyware on it if it's not even plugged into the network.
--Patrick
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
dvdeug
·
· Score: 2
a] The fraction of population that actually understands what Nintendo is trying to do
I think "you're going to have to plug your nintendo into the wall, so it can phone home and check up on you" is something that Joe User can understand and won't like.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
metlin
·
· Score: 2
Hah! And who's gonna tell them that?
The trouble here is the J.Random user would not really care. Is he really bothered about the DMCA, or does he even know about it? And what is he doing about it? Despite everything that happens, it's always those evil hackers who get the boot.
You'd be surprised by what ppl are ready to give up for that little extra comfort.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
theRiallatar
·
· Score: 1
No shit? I guess that's what I get for buying mine used and not getting a manual. I'm quite thankful to you for that information.
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
Troed
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· Score: 1
Ports with no graphics enhancements often look the same.
Maybe you should compare the DC games to.. I don't know.. GC games?
Re:I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
iainl
·
· Score: 1
Ah, I thought there was a reason. I interpreted the story being about monitoring the playing of PS2 games on the PS2 - for some reason I have this mental blind spot about the idea of using consoles for anything other than playing games; thats why I have DVD and laserdisc players.
I suppose this article does actually back Nintendo's theory of making games machines for playing games on, and leaving the music and film stuff to the other manufacturers (he says trying to sweep the Panasonic Q under that rug over there).
How do they know?
by
gralem
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Let's say the copyrighted product is a CD or DVD. Well, I can rip either one of those into another format. Let's say I convert it to MP3/DIVX. Then I could convert those formats to OGG/DV formats. By now, there is no way to track where it came from and what content is in the files, right? I mean, in the end all of these systems can be avoided. And if we know they're out there, we just don't buy any more sony computers EVER (or microsoft software or REAL software, etc, etc).
I do not think there is any software that could scan an Ogg Vorbis file and determine at all what song it is. Even if it did that, it could not determine what album it came from (original/CD single/live/greatest hits/various artists version). The whole idea of DRM just drives me crazy!
Everyone is talking about firewalls, and other formats with-out DRM, thinking that blocking the DRM will just allow unlimited access.
This isn't what the corporations want. They want it so the DRM bits must be verified before you can use any media. You firewall the requests, you can't play. You use a non-DRM enabled format your player won't open it.
It may not be at this point yet, but I can see it quickly heading there.
Unless I'm blatently reading into this wrong, it appears that sony isn't intending on this hitting CD/DVD media. It appears that they are trying to legitimize purely digital content(MP3/DivX/etc) by tracking it. While I'm not for this type of behaviour, it's a legitimate attempt at creating a system of legal file swapping(I pay 5$ for an mp3 and they are satisfied that if I use the proprietary player it's not going to be copied to 1,000,000 people).
$5 for an mp3? You've got to be kidding that you'd pay that. Especially if the "know" it won't be copied, because they don't have to compensate for "lost sales" due to "piracy."
Yes you are blatantly reading this wrong. This applies to ALL digital content, as the DRM proponents have long maintained that the only way to secure IP is to secure all sources of said IP.
-- If you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
wrong thinking here
by
Alcimedes
·
· Score: 4, Funny
man, forget about "disabling" this device, this is exactly what we need!
think about it. all that has to happen is one geek cracks the code. then distribute it. then get a few people together and make a database of all the different codes for different games. end result? get a nice little program that artificially inflates the stats for your favorite games!
forget running SETI of d.net, just run PS stacker in the background, sending of piles of info back to the mothership about how gamers REALLY LOVE BUSHIDO BLADE!!!
at least that's one way to do it. besides, break it entirely and they'll come up with another one. better to tweak it and use it to your advantage.
Re:wrong thinking here
by
shaldannon
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
heh....I got a dual P/// 750....you wanna write the code, I'd be glad to run it....'sides seti and d.net are lame now anyway
And then, thanks to the/. crowd, we walk into Best Buy one day to find the shelves stocked with nothing but Goatse: the Game.
hmmm... let me make sure I understand
by
ivpiter
·
· Score: 1
/translator.pl?gibberish="This will provide content holders and distributors with the bigger opportunities to widen the ways of secure content distribution to various devices while consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market."
Translation: This will not only make content far more restricted, but will also record and track your activities while giving new marketing information to the mega corporations and allow them to scheme with greater efficiency in dolling out overpriced drivel to the masses for consumption.
Ok, just wanted to make that clear.
-- There is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -Hamlet
Re:hmmm... let me make sure I understand
by
Archellion
·
· Score: 1
This part of their report made me chuckle . . . then cringe. I believe that that MPAA made the same sort of statements to congress regarding the DMCA. I haven't really seen any new and exciting content or applications from them. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough, maybe I didn't really want anything new and exciting. I just wanted to be able to use what I owned in ways that were (legally) convenient to me. Guess the MPAA knows best though. Sigh.
Re:hmmm... let me make sure I understand
by
gaudior
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I always wondered where the Zik-Zak Corporation came from. Now I know. At the heart of Zik-Zak, there is a little Sony.
GameCUbe ROCKS!!!!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I highly recommend it over ps2 anyway. Sure there aren't as many games, but they are all good!
Re:GameCUbe ROCKS!!!!
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
You need to be willing to put up with the Controller Design From Hell. The XBox and Gamecube controllers are tied for "Worst Controller In The History Of Console Gaming"
Re:GameCUbe ROCKS!!!!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Not even close. The Controller Design From Hell was definitely the Atari Jaguar controller. Telephone keypad style, hurt your index fingers a lot and the buttons were plungy.
And despite this, Tempest 2000 still 0wns.
How to circumvent Digital Copy Protection step 1
by
Viol8
·
· Score: 1
1: Record music/video onto analog media. (ok ,
games could be a problem here:)
End.
Problem solved. I really don't see why people get
so uptight about these copy protection systems.
Can't copy a track because of some block in the OS
or player? Simple, tee off from the speaker cables into analogue record input connector of
your choice. Its really quite simple.
Comment removed
by
account_deleted
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just one word comes to mind
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
"Cunts"
Re:Just one word comes to mind
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Actually, I like cunts. Something I don't like, say... ass boils, would be more appropriate.
How is it spyware if they tell you it's sending data to the copyright holder? Isn't spyware supposed to be a bit more subtle than that?
Obviously you've never seen Spies Like Us. I mean they were spies, right, but was there any subtlety? No, I thought not. Don't even get me started on Ishtar...
-- "They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
i agree it really cant be considered spyware as they tell you up front about it but spyware is also told to you in some deep dark elu agreement so it all depends if they make it very open or hide it in a elu somewhere
firewall my best guess from dealing with sony software and support is (and only my opinion not sonys) they probaly included it in one of there software programes that comes on all there pcs or included it into the win media player and it would be sent back via one of winxp's back doors like the "generic host process" or other software that requiers updates for codecs thus forcing you to give it internet access and sending the data back to big brother --- i'm more consered with what they want to do with this data is it internal use or externail marketing -- also did anyone read the elu agreement for a sony pc (probaly modified the same for any oem pc) but the microsoft agreement is modified buy oem's to say something like " you give us the right to enter your pc with/out you'r knowledge and view or alter your files" -- look closely its there on most recovery cds the first thing you see --- you do know that whan you update with microsoft they let the oem know
Re:spyware and firewall
by
bummpyjojo
·
· Score: 1
forgot to add --- ever hear of sony support agent on all sony pcs for about 3-4 years ---- well it calls home/scanes all files on pc// and -- automatically repairs (damaged ones) replaces (missing ones) all files originaly sond with the pc by sony --- so altering or deleting the files wont do any good -- this is dependent on theam useing it this way and not just selling it to all software venders for use in there softwre also
Re:spyware and firewall
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
No, you forgot to add punctuation such as a period or a comma.
Re:Thanks
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
I agree. No more Sony purchases -- and that includes the Clie I'd been considering. Lessee... my permanent boycott list now features, on the tech side, Microsoft and Sony...
in case it gets slashdotted...
by
unformed
·
· Score: 4, Funny
Announcing "OpenMG X" - Digital Rights Management and Distribution Technology -Promoting distribution of digital content which respects copyright-
Tokyo, Japan
Sony Corporation today announced "OpenMG X", a digital rights manag....
eh, screw it, it's sony, let 'em hurt....
Re:in case it gets slashdotted...
by
moncyb
·
· Score: 2
You forgot to mention that they are already installing this
"technology" into all their Vaio computers.
Re:Automatic response....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Set DVCopy to RW
Change to
Set DVCopy to/dev/null
makes things much much faster
Sony's new DRM scheme
by
Greenrider
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Day 1: AIBO received as present
Day 2: AIBO found looking through personal CD collection.
Day 3: AIBO attempts to sabotage my chipped PS2. I reprimand it by frowning sternly and saying "Bad dog" but it just wags its tail and pretends like it doesn't understand.
Day 4: AIBO swallows the laser assembly of my CD burner. Claims it was hungry.
Day 5: AIBO starts leaving little piles of Memory Sticks all over the house.
Day 6: AIBO trashes my RioVolt by trying to mate with it.
Day 7: AIBO returned to store, exchanged for TiVo.
Re:Sony's new DRM scheme
by
_LORAX_
·
· Score: 0, Troll
Day 8: Watch pr0n
Day 9: Start receiving adult advertizements on TiVo when paused.
Day 10: Receive mail offers for adult entertainment.
Hack it counter-intuitively...
by
Tall+Rob+Mc
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· Score: 1
The natural first thing to think is "how can I fix this so it doesn't send any information?" However, my question is "how can I hack this so that every time it sends, it adds another 50,000 to the number of times the file has been copied?"
Just to fuck with 'em.
Re:Hack it counter-intuitively...
by
Sylver+Dragon
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
No, the real question is, how do I hack this thing so that is sends 50,000 packets with the same information. Or, better yet, send 5 million random pieces of information. Really, the only thing you do when you send them such obvious junk data is get it filtered out. The better thing to do is create a nice distributed type program (ala SETI@Home) that sends a continuious stream of junk data that looks genuine. It would be better to just increse the amount of data sent to them, rather than decrese it. If you decrese it, it helps keep the data they are getting pure, but if you artificially increse it, you can generate such a low signal to noise ratio that the data is useless.
-- Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
Re:Hack it counter-intuitively...
by
BigBadBri
·
· Score: 1
You'd have to hope it was distributed, though - if Sony start getting loads of shit from your IP, they'll have you for trying to DOS them soon as look at you.
If I had a.sig, this'd be it
-- oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
Re:Hack it counter-intuitively...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
You'd have to hope it was distributed, though - if Sony start getting loads of shit from your IP, they'll have you for trying to DOS them soon as look at you.
You'll be allowed to DOs them under that new law coming in. As a copyright holder you'll have every reason to suspect that they have copies of your copyrighted works given that their software keeps sending them data from your computer.
Branding/Buzzword compliance
by
wrinkledshirt
·
· Score: 2, Funny
OpenMG X
Let's see.
Uses a word with benevolent connotations ("Open")... +2 points
Followed up by a small abbreviation that terminates with the "ee" sound... +3 points.
Incorporates X somehow... +4 points.
Fails to use an "e" or "i" prefix... -2 points.
Total: 2 + 3 + 4 - 2 = rights still getting FLUSHED DOWN THE TOI... I mean, 7 points! Good work to everyone involved!
--
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Re:Branding/Buzzword compliance
by
DrVxD
·
· Score: 2
This looks promising as the basis of a new/. moderation system...
-- Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
Automatic Press Release digester
by
FuzzyDaddy
·
· Score: 1
It would be very easy to write a short script to characterize press releases.
Grep the number of times "illegal copying" is found (in this case, 3)
Grep the number of times "protect content" is found (in this case, 2)
Grep the number of times "making people pay more for something so that it is deliberatly crippled to prevent them from doing things that they both would want to do and is perfectly legal to do": oops, zero in this case. Funny, I could have sworn it was in there somewhere.
The sad part of this is that if it really was a free market, this would never get off the ground. What consumer would pay for it?
-- It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
Am I missing something here, or is Sony retarded?
by
SkipToMyLou
·
· Score: 2
"OpenMG X consists of the following software modules: 1. An encoding module which adds digital rights management information, such as the number of times content was copied or played, to music/movie content and converts them into code at the distributors' end. 2. A server module which distributes digital rights management information on content to the users' end. 3. Client module for developing application software compatible with "OpenMG X" Sony has put the client module (#3) into practice and created "MAGIQLIP", the network music player for PC."
It sounds like that as long as you don't use the MAGIQLIP software, you're fine. Tell me if I'm missing something here, or they just thought up another half-assed copyright protection scheme.
-- From my Autobiography - "Lifestyles of the Sad and Desperate"...
All you mushy-headed alarmists
by
David+Wong
·
· Score: 5, Funny
It says RIGHT IN THE RELEASE that:
"This will provide content holders and distributors with the bigger opportunities to widen the ways of secure content distribution to various devices while consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market."
This will make your movies and music MORE EXCITING AND ENTERTAINING. Say goodbye to Britney and awful Elvis remixes. Say goodbye to slap-together Austin Powers' sequels crammed with product placements. THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL CURE US OF THAT.
I have yet to determine exactly how, but I happen to trust Sony. They told me the PS2 would be 1,000 times more powerful than the PS1, and dammit, we've all seen the results.
Why you guys can't get over your whining and just accept this new more exciting and entertaining future is beyond me.
I have one of Sony's mp3 walkman, like this one.
The good thing about it is that it is small and works well. I only use it when running and the small size is perfect for that purpose. For my use, I don't care if I can't copy the files to another PC, that it counts the number of times that I have uploaded/downloaded to it(so you can't keep downloading to multiple devices I assume) or that it converts it to another format. So that is not a problem for my use of it.
However, I would kindly ask them to go f... themself if they want to track my usage of it. I have paid for my CD's that I download to it, I have paid for the entire product and I they want to get something from me, like collecting information, I want something back, something that would make it worth it.
Yes, I can enroll to their "community" and sample new music etc but that does not cut it.
The included software(OpenMG) was slow like a dog on my 1Ghz P3, even simple meny navigation sucks. I managed to misplace the program CD(stupid me), I still however have the cover with the serial number. It took an entire evening to find a place where I could find a upgrade that didn't require my version to be installed. I also found a version Real Jukebox that worked with my player but now that Real has gone on a extreme nagging crusade to get me to upgrade to their latest sucky Real player One, that too is getting unbearable.
Ok, so what am I saying? The hardware itself works great for me, it even have been covered in sweat(yuck) several times and still works. The small size and low weight is great when I go for that one hour run. But the software simply sucks to the extend that it is nearly unusable and with their latest great idea here, I am seriously considering to dump the bastard and find another player to use.
-- my sig
could work for mr. whipple?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
enhancing his ability to couNT how many sheets of charmin(tm) we use?
again, we may NEVER buy another cd/dvd/pc, until we're sure there's NO spyware on IT.
we're not opposed to paying for entertainment, &/or inf., but have LOTs of reservations about allowing megasloth.con access to our inf. for free, due to the obvious issues of MiStrust/larceny surrounding old mega's follIEs.
no, unlimited plays for 48 hours
by
yerricde
·
· Score: 1
DivX was a 'disposable rental' disc (kinda like a MPEG-4 based DVD)
Now you're confusing Circuit City DIVX with DivX;-). Circuit City DIVX used MPEG-2 technology because there was no MPEG-4 yet.
that was designed to let you play in 'n' times before becoming unplayable
No, the rental lasted 48 hours from when you first inserted it into a player. So it was like "UNLIMITED PLAYS!!1!1 <small>for 48 hours</small>" (remind you of AOL marketing?)
Is it legal to circumvent DRM spyware under the DMCA?
I would hope it is, since you can do so without violating the copyright holder's rights. But, you never know when lawyers are involved.
However, there may be a way around
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Who knows, there could be a way to block the data from even being written, similar to what was done to a previous and similar Sony technology...described: here.
NetMD already deplying similar tatics
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I just bought a NetMD minidisc and the software that comes with it (openMG) only lets you "check in/out" your mp3's a whole 3 times. But that's not all, your not allowed to edit, delete, or upload the tracks to anything other than the pc where they came from.
P.S. Neat work around. Create a Nero image of the mp3's, mount it with nero's image drive and burn it with sony's SimpleBurn, all restrictions removed.
Now we just gotta get a workaround for uploading tracks via the USB cable.
silly names
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
From the press release,
Sony has put the client module (#3) into practice and created "MAGIQLIP", the network music player for PC
And I thought GNU, KDE, and Gnome application names were bad! Compared to this magiqlip nonsense, kasteroids and gnumeric are gems!
get around this with a magic marker too? Thank god for Sharpie's!
-- Pax Vobiscum
Re:So will I be able to....
by
vegetablespork
·
· Score: 1
et quoque cum tuo
--
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
(OT) James Bond DID hide his identity
by
yerricde
·
· Score: 1
James Bond never did that good a job of hiding his identity either...
Yes he did. "007" was a code number, and "James Bond" was a code name designed not to sound like the name an agent would have but rather like the name a simple gardener would have. Do you really think a single secret agent could change his appearance that much between misssions (connery, moore, brosnan, etc)?
Likewise, who knows what this "Open Magic Gate" system truly holds?
Re:(OT) James Bond DID hide his identity
by
Alien+Being
·
· Score: 1
Trivia:
James Bond was the author of the book "Birds of the West Indies". Ian Flemming claimed that he borrowed the name for 007.
Let me save you the trouble...
by
LordYUK
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
I play cracked versions of downloaded games like GTA 3 on a modded PS2 while listening to burned music copied to CD using a Sony VAIO on an AIWA stereo I bought off of some guys truck.
And I wipe my arse with ultra charmin, not that cheap 1 ply stuff.
Sony, you can suck it.
-- This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Re:Let me save you the trouble...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
You dirty motherfucker. You purchase a PS2 (no emulation involved, so obviously you or someone else spent somewhere beteen $199-$299 for the console), but you pirate GTA3 -- a game by Rockstar studios.
From you stupidity, Sony gains money. Rockstar loses money.
Asshole. If you cause GTA Vice City/GTA4 to be cancelled due to lack of revenues, I'll find where you live, run a fucking tank through your house, torch you with a flamethrower, then screw your mom in the back of my Stallion.
Re:Let me save you the trouble...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
But by buying a PS2 I think he actually cost Sony money, and by pirating GTA3 sony missed out on rolaties.
Re:Let me save you the trouble...
by
pi+radians
·
· Score: 5, Funny
You dirty motherfucker. You purchase a PS2 (no emulation involved, so obviously you or someone else spent somewhere beteen $199-$299 for the console), but you pirate GTA3 -- a game by Rockstar studios.
From you stupidity, Sony gains money. Rockstar loses money.
Asshole. If you cause GTA Vice City/GTA4 to be cancelled due to lack of revenues, I'll find where you live, run a fucking tank through your house, torch you with a flamethrower, then screw your mom in the back of my Stallion.
Sony loses money on every PS2 bought. The rest of your post is pretty damn humourous. (I know this will eventually be modded down and another chunk of my karma will be lost forever, but this AC post should be enjoyed by all)
--
sin(6cos(r)+5A)
Re:Let me save you the trouble...
by
Entropy_ah
·
· Score: 2, Informative
This is a myth. The X-Box is the only modern console (X-Box, PS2, Gamecube) that looses money on every unit sold.
Thank you Sony for once again reminding me why i don't buy Sony products anymore.
Ever since the DCMA controversy started i stopped buying Sony products - any Sony products. I don't care if they're good or bad, geeckish or general consumer, music, video, electronics or whatever - i purposely avoid any and all products from Sony any any company i know is part of the Sony "empire".
I've actually been actively REPLACING all my Sony equipment for the past 18 months or so. And that's not trivial since I have a full-blown home theater. I'm down to a single piece of Sony equipment in my house - A $99, three-year-old VCR. I've replaced over $10,000 worth of equipment. And I called/wrote letters to let them know. They didn't seem to care.
Honestly though...every company is evil and is only out to do one thing - make money for its shareholders. I have thought about this before. If I was to really stick to my guns i would have to boycott all products from damn near every company. They are all evil, because their whole reason for existing is skewed towards making money by any means necessary. They have a different hat for each event - on the one hand Sony provides some really cool electronics and media for geeks, but the other hand will slap lawsuits in a heartbeat if it thinks it can make money somehow (see DMCA). The bottom line is that one or two people from slashdot each boycotting their most loathed org (mine is RIAA) is completely ineffective, and any drop in sales is usually attributed to piracy anyway.
I have thought about this before. If I was to really stick to my guns i would have to boycott all products from damn near every company.
You talk like that would be a bad thing! Honestly, how much stuff could you not live without? Besides, there are still a few companies who aren't such heinous offenders as Sony. There are a bunch of companies I won't buy from (Sony and Disney come to mind), but I still manage to live from day to day, and have plenty of toys to choose from.
The bottom line is that one or two people from slashdot each boycotting their most loathed org (mine is RIAA) is completely ineffective....
Unfortunately that's true, too bad we can't convince the masses of sheeple to do what's good for them (did you see the ending of this week's South Park?). I don't think of what I'm doing as boycotting anyway; that implies some kind of organized effort to get a company to do or not to do something. I just won't patronize companies that I feel are going to use my money for "bad" things. I know I'm not going to change them, but that doesn't mean I should support them.
--
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
Yep. I had a CLIE. It was replaced with a Handspring next time I upgraded--after they failed to provide source for their modifications to POSE, which is a GPLd application.
They didn't seem to give a shit, since they didn't reply when I told them so. But you're not the only one (as they no doubt want us to think) so keep it up!
--
Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.
Re:Thank you Sony
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Finally!
Someone else who agrees Sony should be boycotted!
My friends generally do the "but the playstation has the best games" dance or exclaim "I don't care if they're evil, they make the best kit"... I was starting to wonder if I was the only one left who could see beyond the end of his own nose....
I used to be big on Sony, and then I did some reading... my TV is the only Sony product I have left, and that's 10 yrs old. I won't be buying Sony again when it dies, either...
Re:Thank you Sony
by
Russ+Steffen
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Ever since the DCMA controversy...
No no no, it's the DMCA. You can remeber it by the old Village People song:
D - M - C - A ( It's fun to violate the )
D - M - C - A ( You'll do more time than Manson )
D - M - C - A!
So we don't like Sony this week?
by
goldenfield
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Damn it...I can never keep up!
Sorry guys, but I might have to like them again when the network package for PS2 comes out in a couple weeks. And online Madden 2K3...
Mmmm...Madden...
Re:So we don't like Sony this week?
by
garcia
·
· Score: 1
http://pcu.slashdot.org.
Soon we are going to be dancing around in Cow outfits having raw meat thrown at us.
Re:So we don't like Sony this week?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Hell, yeah!
What's the right to privacy when you can play video games online?
Sheesh.
Scaring the Customers
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
What they don't seem to realize is that this will hurt them more than helping. The filesharing/copying crowd won't even notice this. The 'legit' customers will get pissed off, and more and more of them will resort to filesharing/copying because they want to use the software or view/hear the media, and would be willing to pay for it, but
don't
want to raped up the nose by Sony (or J. Random Corporation).
In summary: This will harm no-one but the people who still support them.
Then I will develop a little box to sit between your PS and the server and report everything as 0.
Re:If no one else does...
by
Sylver+Dragon
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· Score: 1
If no one else does... Then I will develop a little box to sit between your PS and the server and report everything as 0.
Don't send 0's, sure, it protects your privacy, but in the end it just means that Sony will just looks at the data from all the other people out there that are sending good data. If you're going to make a box to send junk data, have it send out data that looks real every few minutes. Just keep throwing out random games, bury all the useful data that they might get in junk that is too close to the real thing to filter out.
Honestly, every time one of thse new types of spyware some out the initial/. reaction is either block or flood. These are 2 utterly stupid reactions, all this does is get the compay behind the spyware laughing at you. If its blocked by you and every/.er here, it just means that they are missing out on data on a small demographic. If they get a flood of data (sending out 50 million packets about the same game) they are just going to filter that out as either a hack or an outlier. What we need are some good tools to send data that looks as much like the real thing as possible, but is really just random noise. Unfortunatly, I'm not a programmer, (I'm trying to learn, but don't have much spare time.) and as such can't do this sort of thing myself. However, I know there are a lot of good programmers on/. and if just a few of them would make this sort of noise generator and post it on/., we could really screw with some of these companies.
-- Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
The nintendo gamecube is the only console to *ever* offer a wireless controller that works, and works really, really well. Plus, the basic controller design is perfectly fine and basically equivalent to every other controller. They even have a cool detente at the end of the two shoulder triggers. You need to reduce your crack intake, AC.
I can understand the dreamcast controller being first, analog triggers rock, but the X-box controller is nasty. The N64 was okay, but the PS2/PS1 controller (same damn controller really) is my controller of choice, it has the SNES-controller feel, just as that had the NES controller feel, and since I first started playing video games on an original NES system, I'm partial to that type of control.:)
I've always thought that one of the flaws in capitalism is that it's largely based on positive feedback. A company knows if it's doing something right because money comes in. Sure a company knows if it's doing something wrong because money isn't coming in but they don't necessarily know what they're doing wrong. This results in a waste of resources as a company flounders around trying to find the problem.
The page referenced in the article includes a link to a contact page. Go there. Let Sony know now that you consider this direction to be counterproductive and if they go forward with it you'll vote with your wallet and your opinions should your friends, relatives or employer ask.
The music industry is getting lots of negitive feedback! The result, WAAA, nobody's paying for the SHIT we put out. We need DRM/DCMA! WAAAA! OH Uncle Sam, Please help us! WAAAA! We'll line your re-election campains with green wallpaper!
In the mean time, sales are down and dropping, and the only artists you hear on the radio are the ones that Companies like Sony are pushing and paying the radio stations to play.
Fuck sony!
-- I take no responsibility for what I say. Even though I'm never wrong:)
More support for my system.
by
flamingdog
·
· Score: 1
This is just another reason to implement my simple plan:
Most geeks own more than one computer, so this is no big deal. If not, then buy one, you lazy asshole.
Plan:
1 box connected to internet. Put your games and IM crap on this machine.
1 box not connected to the internet in ANY way shape or form. NO NETWORKS OF ANY GODDAMNED KIND. Put everything else on this machine, and do whatever you like without any worry. Watch kiddie porn, reverse engineer Jesus, type up flyers about Scientoligists eating babies, anything "illegal" or "wrong"....who cares!
Only drawback is the hassle of transfers between one box to the other via hard copies and the money you may or may not spend on another box if you want to.
I figure another decade or so, and this will be the only way to avoid spyware/crazy shit.
--
---------------------------
Re:More support for my system.
by
ShavenYak
·
· Score: 1
How are you going to get the kiddie porn to the disconnected box, without first downloading them on the connected box (where you can be tracked)? Or were you planning to film your own kiddie porn?
By the way, I want some of your Scientologists-eating-babies flyers, and when you finish reverse-engineering Jesus, could you e-mail me the code for the cvt_water2wine subroutine? That would be handy at parties.
--
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
Doesn't Sony realize..
by
gillbates
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
That I'm not going to buy:
A DRM-restricted PC
DRM-restricted (copy protected) media - CD's, DVD's, or otherwise.
What corporate america fails to realize is that the value of a CD lies not just in the physical device, but in the ability for the end user to enjoy the content as they see fit - to copy it to their computer, to make mixed CD's, etc... So my question to Sony is this: How do you expect to make money selling a product that nobody wants? Consumers DON'T WANT copy-restricted media or PC's. I, for one, won't be buying any Sony products in the future for fear that I won't be able to copy CD's that I have legimately paid for, or burn CD's of my own "copyrighted" original material.
How long will it be before running an unlicensed, unregistered software program will be illegal? This DRM scheme is just an incremental step in Corporate America's plan to levy a tax on everything done on a PC. Think about this folks - Sony is trying to take away our freedoms. Spend accordingly.
-- The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
I guess you havn't bought a game in the last 20 years or so?
-- I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Re:Doesn't Sony realize..
by
ryanvm
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· Score: 4, Insightful
Doesn't Sony realize that I'm not going to buy DRM -restricted media. [...] How do you expect to make money selling a product that nobody wants?
Unfortunately not everyone feels the same way that you or I do about copy protection. Hell, it's probably only 3 or 4 percent of people that even understand the issue, and the number of people boycotting media they care about is going to be a fraction of that. How many people do you know that don't rent movies because of MacroVision?
The sad truth is that if 90% (or more) of the population doesn't care about copy protection, the media conglomerates can pretty much implement whatever DRM they want and the consumers will eat it up. And Sony, as a hardware manufacturer and a media outlet, is in a perfect position to do so.
Re:Doesn't Sony realize..
by
kin_korn_karn
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· Score: 2
and Kohlberg 4 people (i.e. 90% of the world) will feel good because they're doing the "Right Thing" by using hardware that makes sure these wonderful content providers get their rights.
Re:Doesn't Sony realize..
by
shumacher
·
· Score: 2
I sell electronics for a living. I suspect the number of consumers put off by copy protection will increase as use of DVD-video recorders spreads. Most of the people I talk to want the DVD recorder so they can copy all of their store-bought VHS titles to a more permanent medium. Many of these people have copied music freely in the past, and expect to do the same with their movies. Most react poorly when they learn the recorder is designed to not allow those copies.
Re:Doesn't Sony realize..
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I'm not going to buy anything they produce. I guess the Japanese concern with honour is just some sort of cultural stereotype, as treating customers a criminals isn't very honorable, it's disrespectful.
Making themselves a bitter pill
by
ackthpt
·
· Score: 2
I've been bothered by their proprietary approach to many things, over the past few years (memory stick, absurdly expensive expansion components to their computers, etc.) and was looking at portable LCD Tv's yesterday. Thing is, in my gut, I already flinch at the prospect of buying from Sony for the concern of being locked into something else of theirs where only they sell (due to heavy copyrighting/patenting) and lack of desire to support such a business.
I may just go with Casio. Seems like the strategy has backfired on this wallet.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Re:Making themselves a bitter pill
by
cheezedawg
·
· Score: 2
I'm not sure what you are looking at. Memory sticks are sold by several manufacturers at prices comparable to CompactFlash (which is also a "proprietary" standard). Several companies (including Pioneer off the top of my head) sell devices that use memory sticks. A quick stroll over to memorystick.org will give you all of the specifications of the memory stick that you would want (electrical, physical format, file system, etc).
And what absudrly expensive computer expansion components are you talking about? Aside from the components that proprietary by nature (like docking stations for laptops), you can upgrade Sony computers with any industry standard component.
I don't see Sony's approach any worse or more proprietary than most other companies out there (including Casio).
-- "The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom" - George W Bush
And yes, it may get confused sometimes on cover songs, but that's the whole point: under copyright law, a songwriter is entitled to a royalty for every sale of a CD containing his or her copyrighted work.
Sayanora, Playstation!
by
superdan2k
·
· Score: 2, Flamebait
It seems like no one, not even Sony, learned the lessons of the DIVX player -- no one wants to be spied on in their own home, making use of products that they own.
I don't know if I'll be keeping my Playstation 2 (with LAN adapter) or even buying a PS3 now. If I do, I'll certainly be tweaking the firewall a bit, because, frankly, it's none of Sony's business how I make use of my hardware.
If we were to compare consumer electronics to automobiles, it would be illegal for me to swap out the fuel injector chip in my car, to install a better air filter, or put a different brand of tires on it when the old ones needed replacing. Hell, it would require me to buy a whole new car when the tires went bald. Of course, laws like this might not be bad -- we'd get all those kids and their "race-ready" Civics and Tiburons off the fucking street. (I, for one, cringe at the sound of a 4-cylinder with a modified exhaust system. And those "carrying handle" spoilers ruining a perfectly nice-looking Mitsubishi Eclipse are just a fucking eyesore.)
Anyway, the point being, if Sony thinks they can ram this down people's throats, they're in for a rude shock. It's bad enough that a game costs $50 -- even a year after it's been released, but now they're demanding to know how often you play it? Gimme a break.
The social effect of this, I think is going to turn the neighborhood computer geek into the equivelent of the neighborhood car mechanic, circa 1930 -- the stuff's going to get so complicated that Joe Average isn't going to be able to make the modifications he wants, so he'll go to the neighborhood expert...and in exchange for some work, the expert gets some extra cash, food, beer, sex, or whatever.
You know what, Sony? Bring that shit on. There's a hot lesbian couple down the block that I'd love to get between. Heh.
heh, so I'm not the only person that's gotten laid by fixing a PC.....
Jaysyn
-- There is a war going on for your mind.
Re:Sayanora, Playstation!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
All rice burners are eyesores to begin with. The spoiler just lets all the kiddies show how far their heads have been shoved into eachother's rears.
Send info back to copyright holder...
by
AyeRoxor!
·
· Score: 1
This would mean the system would need to be connected to the net. So I suppose they would refuse to play the media on a non-connected computer. Laptops and RiO-esque devices would be out the window. That's one reason I think this won't work. Also, aren't there laws against sending info back to home-base without user consent? Anybody who's tried it in the past has been severely criticized. I think this is simply Sony testing th waters...
Legal viruses from Sony, just like from MS. So, if someone cracked the script and made a trojan/phage so that every time someone in the world sends an e-mail, Sony would get their "someone is copying" message, or better yet, what about a "someone is copying" message generator running continually on random proxies...? Geeze, that would be verrrrry illegal, wouldn't it? That's a no no. No one should even THINK of that. Shame... shame!!!
-- Rien n'est plus beau
que le creux du 0.
sigh...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
not only are they watching me... they are stealing my bandwidth... please pause for the two minutes hate...
The PS2 has the ultimate controller. If they change it for the PS3 I will be very disappointed in them. The XBox has a crap controller, just as bloated, badly laid out, and hard to use intuitively as the Gamecube controller.
The primary difference between a PlayStation analog controller and a GameCube controller is the GameCube lacks L1, L3, R3, and Select buttons, and the left pad and stick are swapped. Big whoop. There is even a $10 adapter to let you plug PS2 pads into a GameCube.
I agree that the original XBox controller was unwieldy, but Microsoft fixed that with the Controller-S; now it feels more like a normal controller.
Re:GCN and XBox controllers
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
There is nothing wrong with the X-Box Controller.
For some of us the contrller is just fine, unfortunatly others are less well endowed.
Time to get some nice ANALOG gear
by
ovapositor
·
· Score: 1
With all of the assaults on music and such.... it seems like now is the time to scoop up some nice used analog gear. You have your reel to reel tape, audio cassette, etc. Ultimately, the sound still has to become analog before you can hear it. (This may change in the future I'm sure) IT may not be ideal but at least I will have my music without some company breathing down my neck.
Re:Time to get some nice ANALOG gear
by
AJWM
·
· Score: 2
Ultimately, the sound still has to become analog before you can hear it. (This may change in the future I'm sure)
Yeah, everyone will be required to have cochlear implants that take a digital signal.
And they're getting closer with retinal implants to handle the video side of things, too...
-- -- Alastair
Re:Time to get some nice ANALOG gear
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Mmm... analog. Vinyl records and a tube amplifier.
A scratchy copy of Hotel California beats a pristine digital Britney CD any day.
Re:Time to get some nice ANALOG gear
by
Nonillion
·
· Score: 0
I prefer to use older VHS Hi-Fi VCRs to record CDs. These units are heavy and well constructed, I have tapes that I recorded 10 years ago that still sound near CD quality. For DVDs a good quality S-VHS Hi-Fi will do the trick. Hell, I still even have a Sony UMATIC (3/4" cassette tape) stereo VTR that still makes broadcast quality recordings..
Application Access Control Lists are what you need. To prevent application from accessing things you don't want them to an kernel level not user space level.
This reminds me how as a kid I could always tell which countries were communist or not. They always had "Democratic" or "People's Republic" in their name, when the truth was the exact opposite. And of course, let's not forget the Open Group in the Unix world, which was anything but.
-- If thou see a fair woman pay court to her, for thus thou wilt obtain love
Sygate is better on winblows.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Informative
I run both and things that get by zonealarm don't get by sygate. Although running windows and trying to be secure is like leaving your laptop in an unlocked car. Unwise.
I've tried playing Madden online on the PC. Half the guys just go sit in some darkened, protected corner of the field and then jump out and make the tackle as I run past. The other half have hacks, like the guy I played last night who turned all of my players into Ryan Leaf. Forget it.
I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
mesozoic
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Companies come out with competing DRM technologies. The industry will become clogged with this stuff, because they all think they're going to get rich if they make _their_ DRM the industry standard.
Meanwhile, as DRM-enabled hardware starts making its way onto the market, consumers become aware of what's going on. News.com, NYT, WSJ, all the major media outlets start talking about how these new technology devices won't let you do things your old ones did. We're not just talking about PCs anymore, but DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, televisions, everything.
Consumers say, "Screw that, I don't want disabled junk." A year or two passes, the market for DRM-enabled technology is totally saturated, and nobody's buying. People hold on to their old stuff. Sales plummet. Whoops.
Meanwhile, pirates continue to find ways to circumvent copyrights. Sales keep dropping. The Supreme Court eventually shoots down key parts of the DMCA--and the DMCA is so screwy, this isn't a matter of if, but when--and suddenly we're allowed to _legally_ circumvent copyrights. Bye-bye DRM.
Honestly, I don't think this sort of technology has any chance for long-term survival. All the advertising might and political influence in the world cannot defeat a marketplace full of frustrated consumers.
Well, there's no way THAT could fail.
by
Mirk
·
· Score: 2, Funny
This from the press release itself:
With this technology, the usage conditions for content can be controlled from the distributor's end and hence, content distribution can be secured from the beginning to the end of the service.
By ``end of the service'' here, they clearly mean
``the moment that just one of the multitude of clued-up and highly motivated
hackers out there cracks the protection and puts
an unecrypted copy on a P2P network''.
Ah, you gotta hand it to Sony. They have learned
the lesson well: that you can always solve IPR
problems with technology.
Next week: Sony Announce New Initiative To
Improve Morality By Legislation.
The week after: Sony Announce New Initiative To
End World Hunger By Telling People To Be Nicer.
These are all great ideas.
--
--
What short sigs we have -
One hundred and twenty chars!
Too short for haiku.
If I setup a firewall...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
...to prevent unauthorized inbound/outbound connections, can I sue them for circumventing my security system?
Re:If I setup a firewall...
by
shumacher
·
· Score: 1
IANAL, but I would think that they could sue you for inhibiting the function of their DRM tech, and in turn violating the DMCA.
Man, I've been avoiding sony since they came out with those little mp3 players for $400 that only held one cd worth of songs. And didn't support anything except win98. And it was buggy anyway. That was just the beginning. Then they got all stupid about their intellectual property and their record label is paranoid. And you can't install any operating system besides the one it comes with on their computers. And my friend had a car stereo of theirs and the volume broke. Ok, 2 friends.
Yeah, I don't trust Sony. Pretty soon they'll be putting chips in their TV's to see if you're taping a music video and recording the music from it. Because that's a loss for them.
What I wanna know is how many lexus' and mercedes' they have in their garages of their multimillion dollar houses. One for each day of the week. Except Monday, they need a new one for that day. That's why this is such a big deal.
-- If a and b in c, and a can create b, and a can create a, and b can create b, and b cannot create a, then a created c.
The Re-incarnation of Circuit City DIVX
by
JeffRC
·
· Score: 1
The format that wouldn't die. Lets see we now have a DRM that phones home and tells how many times you used the media. I guess now each DVD/CD will carry the disclaimer, "This disk comes with XX authorized uses, additional uses cost $XX per use." I guess the RIAA/MPAA have come up with a new business model, the gift that keeps on costing.
Cartman: Okay, that's does it! Now listen! Why is it that everything today has involved things either going in or coming out of my ass?! [Farts. An anal probe comes out of his butt and expands] I'm sick of it! It's completely immature. Stan: Hey, it's happening again. [the probe is now a large satellite dish] Kyle: Whoa, look at that. Stan: Now, do you believe this, Cartman? Cartman: You guys can't scare me! I know you're making it all up. Stan: Cartman, there's a 80-foot satellite dish sticking out of your ass! Cartman: Sure, you guys, what-ever. [the dish sends a radio signal out to space]
Oh shit - now the whole world will find out that I spend 8 hours every night playing "Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen Magical Mystery Mall" on my playstation! Arrgghhh!!!
-- -----------------------------------
My Other Sig Is Hilarious
-----------------------------------
Re:Perverted Habits
by
Kredal
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
Too late, we already knew that... you're the only person in the history of the planet that has actually gotten that... *cough*.. game.
-- Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
So now Sony can "legally" spy on who the like hiding beind an EULA of sorts (I'm assuming) under the guide - its the ditributors property and can therefore be tracked and controlled. Hmmm. Last I knew my personal information, consumption rates, usage, and date belonged to me. Since someones collecting MY information, do I get free access to all of THEIR systems to see what they are doing with MY personal information? I think I'll go get a copyright and patent on my personal info then sue the MPAA or Sony for unfair use, collection and distribution. Wonder what kind of royalties I can charge?
Re:Spy vs. Spy
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
That would be silly. But if 100,000 of us got together and filed a class action suit against sony for stealing our PIP (personal intellectual property) we may get away with it. If they can steal my IP I can steal theirs.
I think we need application-level net access
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Write a program to intercept connections and implement an application-level net access policy. Konqeuror can connect to HTTP/HTTPS ports everywhere. Maybe wget and curl too. Nobody else can, unless you authorize it.
That should be a big fuck-you to whatever DRM schemes there are that rely on the network connection.
Now is the time for all good people...
by
Jonsey
·
· Score: 1
To band together and teach a multi-national corporation that they are not gods.
Sony products will continue to sell to everyone who doesn't know just what this is, and how it's leading to potentially very-bad-things(tm)
We/. readers could boycott until we're red in the face, and Sony'd never feel the difference
We could DDoS them, but we'd bring ourselves below their level to do that, and they'd never care.
Now is the time to get active in your community, including, but not limited to: Telling those who will listen about what DRM is, and how it will affect us; Offering non-Sony non-DRM components at a lower cost (for retailers); Standing inside/outside a store/reseller that pushes/sells Sony products with flyers, a good positive attitude, and the willingness to educate and not attack.
to cause a change, we must be active, willing, and open... I hope we can be.
And if not, let's start flooding their servers with bunk data in a BAD way. It'd fun while it lasted, but wouldn't accomplish much.
- Jones
-- I assert that my comment is only my opinion, not that of any employer, past, present or future.
Re:Now is the time for all good people...
by
gamorck
·
· Score: 1
/. is well on their way to accomplishing that every single time they shell out for the PS2 Linux kit.
J
P.S. Anybody see the irony here?
-- I love idealists not because I am one, but because they make life bearable for pragmatists such as myself.
Re:Now is the time for all good people...
by
AntiNorm
·
· Score: 2
/. is well on their way to accomplishing that every single time they shell out for the PS2 Linux kit.
Not to mention every time they post another story praising the last MPAA-sponsored movie.
--
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...
Re:Now is the time for all good people...
by
MsGeek
·
· Score: 2
To Hell with all that...Slashdot is notorious for praising Sony to the heavens every time they make another slick, kawaii device/laptop/whatever. Sony has always been pro-DRM, anti-consumer.
I said it before, I'll say it again...screw Sony. I don't buy their stuff, and I also tell my friends not to as well. I am so fucking pissed that they are the people distributing "Dogtown & Z-Boyz"...I'm gonna have to wait for used DT&Z-B DVDs to arrive at Half.Com before I can own a copy.
-- Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Re:How to circumvent Digital Copy Protection step
by
inflex
·
· Score: 1
Don't say that too loud, else before you know it they'll eliminate the speakers. First step will be to only send digital [encoded of course] data to the 'speakers', then after that they'll come up with some wacked speaker design which builds the decoding circuits right in on the speaker cone... then after that they'll go away from speakers and simply transmit to your brain.
Do you own a DVD player?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
Surprise, you've already sent money towards this very kind of stuff.
History has already shown that consumers are typically clueless and have already bought into this stuff. Just gimme my DVD's right? Region codes? What's that? Macrovision? Oh well.
If people accepted that, they'll accept DRM.
Re:Do you own a DVD player?
by
NamShubCMX
·
· Score: 1
Get porn DVDs. They're region-restriction-free:)
-- We've always been at war with Eurasia.
Re:Do you own a DVD player?
by
Gonarat
·
· Score: 1
Region coding has been accepted by the average Joe (in the U.S.) is because the U.S. is already in region 1, and that is where most movies are released first. In Oz, Europe, and other (non region 1) places, fixing the region code problem is common. The region restriction only bites USians that travel overseas, Anime fans, Dr. Who fans, etc. The average Joe/Jane will only "accept" DRM if it doesn't affect the way he/she wants to use the product. Once Joe/Jane gets pissed off, then things will change, IMHO.
-- Beware of Sleestak
Re:Do you own a DVD player?
by
Chexsum
·
· Score: 0
DVD?
Never seen one.
-- Pixels keep you awake!
Re:Do you own a DVD player?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
In the US, region madness is not a real problem, as they already have masses of movies available. As for the rest of us, its more than just annoying, it a killer. I for one would never buy a DVD player that was not able to play all regions.
I recently purchased a Sony cdrw drive from the friendly neighborhood computer super store. (I got a giftcard for my birthday.) I forget the exact model number, but it's the 32x predecessor for their current 40x 195A. I didn't do my research. I bought a drive unsupported by Click 'n Burn, Easy CD Creator, and Nero. As I share a machine with my wife, that other OS gets a partition. Therefore, I need hardware supported by software that I ALREADY OWN.
Sony's current retail models come with something called B's Recorder Gold. Worst burning package ever. And it's a demo. If you want the real thing, Sony wants another $40 US.
I took my beloved new burner back and swapped it for a no-name-brand model that works just fine - Linux or DOS.
Thanks, Sony. I used to swear by your component audio equipment. Not anymore. Ever. Keep screwing us with your half-assed copy protection schemes, and watch me walk away from the rest of your catalog, too.
I used Sony software and the results were...
by
tiedyejeremy
·
· Score: 1
pathetic. I go into the recording studio and record a 14 song demo with a band. Have my laptop (a Vaio) in the car and copy the master of the first mix to my harddrive using the preinstalled Sonic Stage. When I get home, I burn a new copy to play on the stereo. This is a "rough draft" of the recordig so I don't mind that it's been compressed. Later, I go to burn a copy for my friend and am told by the Vaio that I cannot burn a fucking copy of my own goddamned music because I don't have rights to make more than one copy. This sucks!!!!!!!
-- Anything you say will be held against you.... "tits"
Another in a string of bad decisions
by
Winterblink
·
· Score: 1
As a user of minidisc tech, to me this is just another in a long line of crummy decisions on Sony's part when it comes to music technology. MD as a whole is a great system (just my opinion here), but it's sorely lacking in one major department -- UPLOADING. A sizable segment of the MD community uses their portable recorders to tape concerts, meetings, nature sounds, whatever. There's currently no way to get the files off the unit and onto the PC digitally, you have to hook up with an analog cable to do it.
-- "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
"I am totally opposed to any software or hardware requirements that limit my fair use of purchased materials. I will not knowingly purchase any materials that limit my fair use of them.
I find it outrageous that Sony would expect that informed consumers are going to willing allow raw usage statistics be forwarded to Sony. As far as I understand it, there isn't even an opt-out program in place.
I am firmly of the opinion that Sony is shooting themselves in the foot with their most recent DRM initiative. There has been a constant battle for centuries over new media technologies: the technologies always take over, and the publishers and artists make more from it. Why resist? Even file sharing has been shown to INCREASE sales, not diminish them.
Grow up."
Like that'll make a difference. Too bad most consumers are "One of the nine."
So using legislation created by the industry, they are hiding behind said DMCA in order to do what would otherwise be illeagal. I am sorry but writing a program that sits on a persons machine for the purposes of sending them information constitues hacking does it not? So we are letting a Japanese imperialist say to hell with your constitution! No! I say NO! it is time for the Revolution to begin!
We cannot out vote them
We cannot out spend them
We CAN bankrupt them
Consumer disobediance time, we should implement boycotts and other strategy such as set automated copies to disrupt thier systems. I am tired of Corporate Imperialism runnign rampant
Viva La Revolucion!
Che
-- -For it is the very essence of imperialism
to turn information systems into wild, bloodthirsty animals-
Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
simetra
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Sure, it's nice to hop on the Evil Companies bandwagon, but really.... why should everything be free? What if you ran a company? Would you give your product away? If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do like it, buy it. Don't like asparagus? Don't buy it. Do like grapes? Buy them, don't shoplift them.
As for privacy, so what? What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you? Are they going to take out a full-page ad in the NY Times, proclaiming that Joe-LOTR-Geek-Smith listens to Neil Diamond 10 times a day?
I don't like this either, but how about a reality check every now and then?
--
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
tiedyejeremy
·
· Score: 1
here is your reality check:
I go into the recording studio and record a 14 song demo with a band. Have my laptop (a Vaio) in the car and copy the master of the first mix to my harddrive using the preinstalled Sonic Stage. When I get home, I burn a new copy to play on the stereo. This is a "rough draft" of the recordig so I don't mind that it's been compressed. Later, I go to burn a copy for my friend and am told by the Vaio that I cannot burn a fucking copy of my own goddamned music because I don't have rights to make more than one copy. This sucks!!!!!!!
-- Anything you say will be held against you.... "tits"
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
simetra
·
· Score: 2
I find this hard to believe. Surely, if you create music, whatever spyware's running will be able to tell that there's no copyright on it. And/or, you'll be able to "sign" something with your own copyright/certificate.
--
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
datarat
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Good Grief. Why does everyone always assume that it's all about getting something for free?
It's about control of your information. Suppose I rip a CD that I've purchased so that I can listen to it on my mp3 player.
2 years later I'm interviewing for a job and I'm told that because I have a history of duplicating intellectual property I can't be hired.
Sure, it sounds unlikely, but it only takes a little digging to find some dirt, and the more dirt exists the easier it is to find.
If I wanted everyone to know what I was doing all the time I'd be blogging.
-- If you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
Steve+B
·
· Score: 2
I find this hard to believe. Surely, if you create music, whatever spyware's running will be able to tell that there's no copyright on it.
For the incumbent entertainment industry, obstructing the ability to create and distribute one's own content is a feature, not a bug.
-- /.
If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
tiedyejeremy
·
· Score: 1
Find it hard to believe if you like, but it is the ABSOLUTE truth. "Go try it out for yourself," I implore. It is true and it has happened to me. The omg (I originally thought omg was 'oh my gawd') system also limits the copying and distribution of legally traded live recordings of the likes of Phish, Dave Matthews Band, and others. Again, try it out as it is, no shit, the truth.
-- Anything you say will be held against you.... "tits"
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
Carmody
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
"As for privacy, so what? What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you? Are they going to take out a full-page ad in the NY Times, proclaiming that Joe-LOTR-Geek-Smith listens to Neil Diamond 10 times a day?"
A fair enough question, and one that many people don't understand the answer to.
Here is "so what:" (1) I don't have to justify my want for privacy. You have to justify your taking it away from me. I don't want Sony to find out that I listen to Neil Diamond. That's all the justification I need to give.
(2) I have a question for you, Simetra. How many times have you masturbated in the last month. How many orgasms have you had? What does your wife or girlfriend look like when she climaxes... does she grimace or smile? Please tell me and all of slashdot. Go ahead and tell - we're not going to haul you into a dungeon and torture you. Or do you think that its just none of my business?
(3) Profiling: One of the current trends in "profiling" is to ignore causation and emphasize correlation. For example, in order to get some jobs, you have to take a "personality test" and the answers you give are translated to a chance you will commit employee theft. Some of the questions are hardly relevant (most, actually) but they have found that "I like chocolate" people are three times more likely to rob than "I like strawberry" people. Nobody, not even the psychatrists, are claiming causation- they don't need to.
The United States is now requiring many data-gathering places (like libraries) to turn over their data so they can test for "potential terrorists." If it turns out that the music you like is also liked by the White Christians who were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing, you may find yourself on a list you don't like. It seems farfetched... but it is not. And even if you think that it is a farfetched idea, it is not for you to make that call for me.
I have the right to privacy.
-- God is real unless declared integer
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
simetra
·
· Score: 2
One thing the paranoid continually forgets/ignores is that THEY are US.
--
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
Raphael
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I hope that someone will moderate you up because your comment is interesting, even if I disagree with it.
You are right about the fact that some people deserve to be paid for their work. Let's skip the debate about whether the price of CDs and DVDs is right or whether the publishers reward the artists correctly. In the end, we (the consumers) should pay for the content that we would like to listen to or watch. If the artist or publisher did not intend to distribute their work for free, then copying it from someone else is stealing, plain and simple. This is wrong and should be prevented or punished appropriately. So I fully agree with you on that part.
But there are many problems in the technical implementation and in the privacy risks associated with this DRM method (and most others).
Here is an example: if I read the description correctly, OpenMG X requires the player to exchange some information with a server in order to allow the content to be played. Do you remember DivX? Not the video codec, but the company that tried to rent encrypted discs and is now dead. If the company goes bust, then the players cannot contact the server and you would probably not be able to play the content that you paid for.
I also expect some problems if I would like to listen to the music or watch the video while I am sitting in a plane with my laptop or in some remote area from which I cannot connect to the server.
Also, as noted by many others, there are many copies that are not illegal. The protection scheme will probably allow some of them (maybe only one copy to another protected device) but will not allow all of the copies that would normally be considered as "fair use". I buy lots of CDs but I always make a copy of them if I want to listen to them in my car (otherwise they could be damaged by heat or dust). I also encode them as Ogg or MP3 if I want to listen to them on my laptop (because carrying the CDs when I travel is not very convenient). Note that only one of these copies is used at a given time. I bet that most of these copies would not be possible with this protected content. So if OpenMG X is successful and if in the future most of the content is protected or if the "best stuff" is only released with OpenMG X protection (or released first in that format and much later in some unprotected format), then my choices as a consumer would be significantly limited. I know that these reasons are often used by freeloaders who shout "fair use rights" whenever they are afraid that they would have to pay for the stuff that they are getting for free from their friends, but believe me: I'm not one of them and I am really concerned about the choices that would be available to me in the future.
Regarding the privacy risks, you do not have to be paranoid to imagine some of the things that could be done with your listening habits or with the "criminal record" listing the the number of times that you attempted to copy something. Beyond the marketing tricks (more junk mail or e-mail about "related products" that I am not interested in) there could be some issues if your personal data is not suitably protected or if it is incorrect because someone else used your equipment. Imagine, for example, that a friend of yours uses your player while you are not there and attempts to copy some content that you bought. He will not be able to do it (e.g., because the owner of the target device would not be the same as the owner of the content) but this attempt may be logged. If this happens several times, you could be blacklisted and later you would not be able to play your music anymore. This could happen if all devices or content could be linked to their "owner" (correctly or not).
You can also think about what could happen to your personal data if the company that owns the server does not protect it correctly. Or if the management of the company changes or if it is bought by another company. Do you want a future employer to know that you have been listening to or viewing some things that are not politically correct?
There are many other risks and problems associated with this and other DRM methods, but I should probably stop here because this comment is getting a bit long already...
-- -Raphaël
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
McD!ck
·
· Score: 1
Wow, that would be so much more impressive if there was an argument behind it. ..
-- People who are against human cloning must be bitter they are not good enough to be cloned.
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
DuckDuckBOOM!
·
· Score: 1
What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you?
Moot point. If you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day, you are impervious to torture.
DDB
-- Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
aaarrrgggh
·
· Score: 1
If the company goes bust, then the players cannot contact the server and you would probably not be able to play the content that you paid for.
To this, I would add that you are never sure what you have actually purchased: With DRM it is possible for the owner to change the terms of use at a later date. Moreover, it is in the distributor's best interests to reduce what you are allowed to do over time, to continue to extort money from consumers....I mean really, isn't it only fair for you to pay The Who every time you listen to _?
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
Shelled
·
· Score: 2
You're dreaming. THEY don't consider YOU one of THEM. The leaders of the most evil political parties of the last century all arose from the general population. A shared background is irrelevant.
Re:Heaven forbid you actually PAY for something!
by
the_olo
·
· Score: 1
Do you want a future employer to know that you have been listening to or viewing some things that are not politically correct?
Not to mention that things that are politically correct now may stop being p-correct in the future...
You might think that Hitler, who got elected with the financial support of big business (while in the US, Henry Ford was a major fan too), wouldn't have resorted to intellectual property to meet his need to acquire vast wealth. Not only did he earn millions in royalties from Mein Kampf, but he got a share in the proceeds from sales of photos of him by his official photographer, on whose behalf he extended the copyright law, showing that there's more than one mousey little guy with an appreciation of the value of his image!
Perhaps if Sony technology had been in place, he would have gained enough through IP control to have been satiated, and not forced take extreme measures to try to make the world a better place through his policy of regime change in neighboring lands. ___
-- "with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
No, an intentional invocation of Godwin's law isn't when someone says, "I invoke Godwin's law."
It's when someone says, "You're being just like the Nazis." so that that side loses the argument. I realize the definition is unclear. Read it again.
--
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Re:Hitler and IP
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Not only did he earn millions in royalties from Mein Kampf [amazon.com], but he got a share in the proceeds from...
Perhaps if Sony technology had been in place, he would have gained enough through IP control to have been satiated, and not forced take extreme measures to try to make the world a better place through his policy of regime change in neighboring lands.
----
How much food can one person eat, motherfucker? How much money is enough? Enough is never enough. What in the HELL? All I can say about this post is what in the fucking hell. These are sad times.
At least a gas chamber is truth. I want you to die, and here's how, right in your face truth. These lies and corporate scandals are all coming down to modifications to the human body in which sight and sound will be a privilege, not a right.
If I see something, or hear something, I'm gonna share my experiences as near to the original experience as I can, if I feel like doing it, and the only thing that's gonna stop me is this bodily modification. Of course, I would make Hitler seem like a cuddly little Teddy bear before a chip goes into my body. I will kill men, women, children, animals, and myself before I allow this shit to invade too far. Keep that in mind any of you capitalist fuckfaces that are reading this.
I realize I'm going to die. If you push me too far, I might as well get a list of the sony execs, microsoft execs (bye bye billy), enron execs, and kill em all. Kill until they take me down with a headshot.
Keep hoarding. Keep hoarding till starving, blind, deaf, mass swarms down upon you. I'd probably even pay the credits to turn my eyesight on while I'm tearing you to shreds.
I believe that in the beginning, Godwin's law didn't refer to something as immature as "winning" or "losing" an argument, it just said that when a discussion had reached the point when the participants starts to call each other nazis, there is nothing of value left in the thread so it should be abandoned for a more rational discussion. You commie.;-)
--
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
I've already developed a front-end loader that loads at boot and filters outgoing OpenMG X traffic.
*door bursts open*
You can't do this! I have riiiiiiigggghhhhhhh....
Another good point test for slashdot effect.
by
ketamine-bp
·
· Score: 1
What about all of us in slashdot runs a simple perl script that generate a 'illegal copying' packet in background? Voila, distributed computing.
I think that this will then be a good case study for all those postgraduate fellows studying (the culture|distributed computing|ddos).. heh.
my 2 cents =)
A salient observation indeed
by
Lug+Monkeybird
·
· Score: 1
You are right; people here are missing the real point, and that is that
companies protecting their IP using technology is good
versus
companies protecting their IP using government (regulations, legislation, litigation) is bad
Companies/people oughta be free to protect their stuff however they like, so long as we're all free to try to circumvent it however we like.
-- L
open letter to sony
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
My open letter to Sony:
* Regarding the DRM technology that Sony plans to implement, I was just wondering if I'm going to be reimbursed for the bandwith it will use to send out this information? I'm paying monthly for the Internet for my own personal use, not so companies can track me and use it themselves. If I paid for the computer, the music, and the Internet connection, why do you guys get to use it for free? That's not fair. And don't tell me that the data is so small that it's an "insignificant amount." That's like saying, "steaing pennies from millions of people's bank accounts isn't wrong because it's just pennies."
But... oh well. I'm sure this message, if read at all, will be read by some intern who will just trash it because they're only interning for you to get in good with the company or the label and bringing important matters to someone's attention like this is NOT going to win them brownie points. My apologies for wasting both of our time.
*
You mean they have been holding back?
by
Frobnicator
·
· Score: 2
From the article: consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market.
This implies that they have been capable of putting out better trash than they have now (probably true, most films aren't worth $7 per person right now) but that somehow, adding DRM to boxes will magically make movies better.
breaking the constitution??
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
IANAL, I'm not even american, but don't you guys have something in your constitution saying poeple (like your wife) don't have to testify against you because you are close/married? couldn't it be argued that something you bought, own and use every day is equally as close to you and thus can't legally testify (or in this case snitch) on you?
Thanks for the announcement Sony. Now I know to avoid your products.
Plus there's alot of small(er) companies that Sony owns as well. Does anyone have a link to a list of all the "wholly-owned subsidiaries" of Sony? I already tried a google search, but all I came up with was single companies that were owned by Sony. This sort of stuff could just trickle down to them too.
-- Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
To me this looks less and less like a way for Copyright holders to protect their investment and more and more like a way to gather even more info on us so they can "improve" how they sell goods. I keep a firewall not so much to keep others out, but to control what info on me goes out.
Like MS's Passport, just because they say their only doing X, if your not allowed to check (DMCA) how can you tell what they are doing.
It doesnt matter what any large company does these days... someone will find a way to circumvent it. Many different technologies come to mind... I remember one which cost the developer a ton of money to create... and then an 8 line perl script to defeat.
and perl code is extremely hard to defeat upon even if it's reviewed by the original programmer since it's a WORN (Write-once-read-never) language.
Screw spoofing - rip the stream
by
siskbc
·
· Score: 1
Really, isn't the easiest way going to involve capturing the stream and saving it as a non-proprietary format on a CD or whatever? How long until someone comes out with a version of streamripper for this device? Long time, I'm sure. Not.
Re:Screw spoofing - rip the stream
by
renehollan
·
· Score: 2
That presumes that you can get to the unencrypted stream. Sampling an analog version might be feasable, but increasingly, the analog outputs of devices have crippled resolution, and future legislation may forbid them all together.
Re:Screw spoofing - rip the stream
by
gaudior
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
... future legislation...
As in, the FCC requires digital tuners in TV's. And so the Hollywood Cabal shoehorns in DRM into those tuners, which Sony will have NO problem doing. They are already lobbying for embedded DRM, and Microsoft and Intel are helping with Palladium.
Re:Screw spoofing - rip the stream
by
renehollan
·
· Score: 2
Though that by itself does not prohibit the presense of existing analog tuners, the writing is certainly on the wall, yes.
In time they will have total control of all content, since any non digital content/hardware is going to be banned from prodution..
We will get to listen/read/watch only what they want us to.. only for as long as they want.. lets hear it for free speech.. " sorry sir, your license to read the constitution has expired "
Sure i got an old analog tape deck, and non DRMized cdR.. but they gotta break someday..
Grr
-- ---- Booth was a patriot ----
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Minor nitpick: you don't circumvent copyrights, you circumvent encryption schemes to access copyrighted material. That is the DMCA.
You could block this with a firewall, but then Sony could counter-attack by hiding the signal on the back of something else.. On the whole these companies are only telling us what they're doing in the small print which no-one reads. Most people I know haven't a clue about DRM or whats going on with it. Its (usually) perfectly legal to do what they are doing, and illigal to by-pass it. More of the general population needs to be aware of whats really going on, and that the corporations are shafting them behind their backs. Posting on/. is preaching to the converted. The internet is supposed to be the big medium for mass communication to enlighten the masses, but everyone is still in the dark..
-- This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Magic Gate by Sony
by
dfenstrate
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Does anyone how successful Sony's MagicGate technology has been?
Is anyone actually buying it? Has it been defeated yet? Though that might require substantial modification to the hardware involved....
-- Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
Re:Magic Gate by Sony
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
It's been successful at getting me to completely reject the idea of buying a Memory Stick or Memory Clip Walkman.
It's been successsful at making me (an owner of older MiniDisc equipment) look askance at newer MiniDisc equipment (which hopefully allows non-MagicGate-encumbered, old-fashioned recording).
It's been successful at getting me to laugh at every Sony PC that has a MagicGate-enabled Memory Stick slot built in -- as if DRM was a desirable feature.
It's been successful at enhancing the already substantial appeal of the iPod.
It's fairly obivous that the major labels don't care at all about classical music because it brings in so little $$; this has disadvantages(hard-to-find recordings, artists) and advantages(lower CD prices). Does anyone think there is a chance(God, I hope so) that they will not DRM-ize classical or other non-mainstream CD's, if they think it's not worth the extra cost?
well astleast it's OPEN
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
They could have relased it as MG and then we'de really be done for... (hope you know I'm just kidding eh)
No, the first version will not do this. What they will do, is leave a huge security hole and some big bugs. Then when you download the update, you will have to agree to being spyed on or have every script kiddie break into your device.
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Too bad there's not a score of "-1, Pipe Dream". The courts have already developed all the arguments necessary to keep the DMCA alive and well and safe in the face of challenge.
NO court has had any problem with any part of the DMCA. It isn't going anywhere. The Supreme Court's take on it will most likely be to refuse to accept cases. If they ever do accept a case, it will to be to ratify our doom.
Or, to put it in simpler terms, "We're fucked".
Re:Am I missing something here, or is Sony retarde
by
Raphael
·
· Score: 2
It sounds like that as long as you don't use the MAGIQLIP software, you're fine.
Almost. The problem is: if you are not using the MAGIQLIP software, then you will not be able to listen to the music at all.
Tell me if I'm missing something here,
or they just thought up another half-assed copyright protection scheme.
Well, you will probably be missing the music. All this DRM stuff only makes sense if the the content is distributed is some encrypted format, in order to ensure that it is only possible to play it with software or devices that are DRM-enabled. Although I haven't seen it, I assume that this MAGIQLIP software is designed to play some files that have been encrypted, and the decryption key is only available if the player can validate your credentials by contacting Sony's server.
So if you do not use their software or if the software cannot communicate with Sony's server (e.g., because you are not connected to the Internet or because you are using a firewall), then you cannot listen to the music.
You can deal with this by moaning online, or you can organize a grassroots effort to let the media companies know that you simply will not tolerate this. That means you simply do not buy their "stuff" on the general principle that they are pissing you off.
No CDs, no movies, no DVDs, nothing. If everyone gets involved, they'll get the concept that the consumers are tired of their nonsense and indeed are not the sheep they are purported to be.
Actually, we can do both; and we can do them at the same time. While I'm not technically moaning, I online and talking about Sony's latest stunt--and simultaneously I am buying absolutely nothing from Sony. Amazing!
That won't work. They'll just (and they already have) spin it like "Waaah, piracy is killing our sales! People aren't buying CDs/DVDs because they can get them all free on the net! We need new laws!"
-- Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
Re:How to circumvent Digital Copy Protection step
by
Eu4ria
·
· Score: 1
Record music/video onto analog media. (ok , games could be a problem here) Oh I dont know my ZX Specturm used to load games from cassette tape as did the Commodore 64. Although I am not sure how many tapes would be needed for something like Neverwinter Nights;)
Eu4ria
SlashSnot
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
yeppers, all the corporates want to know what pr0n you been watching, what mp3s you listen to, know when you pick your nose, when you scratch your ass, when you go potty, when you have sex, when you eat, when you sleep, how much money is in your bank accounts...
why don't these nosey corporates just stick a fscking camera in every room in my house!?!?!?!
Yet Another Open Source Solution
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Somebody's already working on this one - if you use Linux, BSD, or OSX.
Check out the Open/NMD project(and support it).
http://opennmd.monochromatic.net/
hahaha
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
that's the funniest thing i've read all day, thanks.:)
Then somebody makes a hack, which disables the call-home or spyware features... and all of/. users rejoice once again.
With all this DRM going about,
by
Mac+Degger
·
· Score: 1
Isn't it time for a real study on the effect of 'piracy'? I have yet to see one which takes into account age/available spending money [people still only buy what they can afford...piracy most often probably represents stuff which wouldn't be bought anyway] to get at a more realistic number for the reported loss. And maybe add in some adjustment for the fact that if someone uses a pirated, highpriced piece of software, he/she will also want to use it in the workplace.
I wouldn't be surprised if when these and other factors are adjusted for, piracy turns out to be a lot less costly. And probably less than the development and implementation of DRM in the first place...
Wouldn't this be illegal in itself. Since it is compromising other software in your computer, which is more or less virus-like behavior (and of course, virus writing is illegal, unless it's a Microsoft OS)
Re:Am I missing something here, or is Sony retarde
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
What I think is really great about all this is I don't know ANYONE at all who uses MagicGate, or the weird software that comes on VAIOS, or any of that sony memory-stick protection crap. If they have a need they usually just buy a normal memory stick and get on with it, not a Magic Gate one.
Its funny how sony keeps pushing these products that nobody at all uses.
...if they think that this is something to be proud of. If I was Sony, I'd actually be embarrassed to publicly admit to having this technology let alone bringing it to market. They should just sell more TV/VCR/DVD/etc and STFU..
Sweet! I'm going to install it ASAP!
by
DirkDaring
·
· Score: 0
...and then I'm going to run a script that plays 'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mixalot 50,000 times a day and let it report away.
This is going to be fun!
Dirk
DRM - Does it address non-drm distribution?
by
elrick_the_brave
·
· Score: 1
DRM is good for those who want to maintain the conglomerate model of audio/video distribution. What I have not seen is anyone who addresses the non-DRM side in parallel. If all machines are configured to play 'DRM-only'.. what will happen to the public domain and free audio/video? The end user wants a simple and easy experience... not a headache when they cannot get what they want.
-- (1st sig) If this were a snappy sig, you'd be reading it right now. (2nd sig) I'm a karma whore. >Insert FUD here
Maybe you'll get lucky and your employer will buy this info
from the data mining company. I can see the headlines now:
"Man gets sued for sexual harrasment in the workplace because he
viewed a video at home"
This is not a good thing. What if employers use this info to
screen potential employees?
You mean like the way one of the very senior Pacific operations officers got raked over the coals in the Canadian Navy a bit ago?
He was being called to officiate in an investigation about viewing 'net porn on military systems (in the workplace), and said "I can't. I have done similar things and my judgement is suspect." - but what he did was pretty freaking minor and not all that similar.
Using a naval laptop, he was at his own off-base home, using his own private internet account, and viewed porn.
Nothing tracable to the Navy, frankly - and a bunch of the local loons started goign off how "every single woman under his command is at dire risk!"
Your headline is far, far too plausible.:(
Re:Employers want it!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
>This is not a good thing. What if employers use this info to screen potential employees?
_If_ ?!? What is this _IF_ ?!?
The only question is how much will that service cost. It will be done. [ Part of the mandatory 'background check'. ]
If your IQ is over ten and you know anything about how real
businesses operate, you may figure it out. Judging from your post, I don't think you'll make either requirement...
Sure you can. You have both keys.
by
nyet
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Cryptography is not designed for this sort of thing.
It is designed to let two trusted parties communicate w/o a third either snarfing data or pretending to be one of the trusted parties.
The problem is, both ends are not trusted in ANY DRM scheme, which is what makes DRM a pipe dream.
Re:Sure you can. You have both keys.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
>> The problem is, both ends are not trusted in ANY DRM scheme, which is what makes DRM a pipe dream.
Not entirely true. I believe Dish Network has no known cracks.
Secure, DRM type, systems are doable in theory, but not by 99.9% of the "pedigried" Corporate Hacks that are out there trying.
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
MrResistor
·
· Score: 2
Yeah!!!
Just like what happened to Macrovision!!!
Oh, wait...
-- Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Re:So... No Internet connection? No problem...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
as next week Sony will be happy to announce that all their products will start to ship with handy built in Ericsson mobile phone. This new "consumer" feature will allow consumers to remotely locate the exact whereabouts of their CD player, television, PS2 etc, just in case they get stolen..... Thanks Sony how thoughtful of you:-)
The only time it is reasonable for a company to know when I am playing a game/video/something manufactured by them is if they can add something meaningful to my experience.
Look at what Blizzard has done -- you buy a full version of their latest game, and with the key that you get, you can play on battle.net. I consider this to be a worthwhile exchange, because after all I am getting something new from them every time I play their games -- the services of their network.
However, if I were to tell Sony "I just played your stupid game by my lonesome self and you didn't give me anything, but I thought I'd just let you know", I would feel quite stupid.
If I had to buy a dvd for $20 and then watch it and then get charged more, that would be truly sucky.
I hope that the direction that all of this DRM stuff is headed is you get chaged maybe $3 or $4 to watch any movie ever made at any time you want in the comfort of your own home (with discounts for repeat watchings, etc). That is clearly worth the money to me.
Ramble...
-- -S
Free Market?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
The US, and all of the world making such "Free Market" claims, haven't been so for many years now.
Very sadly, it's this kind of contract of adhesion that makes some people think this sort of software has a place in a democratic society. After all, you have the right to not agree to Sony's terms, and are "free" to just walk away, as you have. "Take it or leave it". When one side has all the power, it's called a contract of adhesion.
I wonder if courts will still uphold contracts of adhesion when they start printing EULA's on fruit (not the computer kind).
SO please get to it and do it quick
by
Archfeld
·
· Score: 2
because the EU, GB, and Australia are all gonna honor the DMCA in accordance with international treaty. If you happen to live in a country with cojones, I'm jealous, I wish I did too, but for the rest of us, violating this law ensures you'll be looking over your shoulder for a long time or not traveling:(
-- errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
They make some nice products, PS2, mp3 players, and some other stuff and do some ok things like put together a linux kit for the PS2, which saved me the trouble, but then they do stuff like this. I just don't get what they're up to.
--
Capitalism: unequal distribution of wealth
Socialism: equal distribution of poverty
You're talking about the company that used an authentication chip to control who could make games for the NES, and then sued Tengen when they reverse engineered it to make their own games.
Nintendo would very much like a return to those days of dominance.
--
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
Introduces memory stick format with content control, Sony Bad;
Releases some developers manuals and a Linux Dev kit for their Console, Sony Good;
Rolls out Spyware/DRM system, Sony Bad;
I'm confused!
Oh wait, I am a Nintendo Guy anyway, PSX1/2 suck, buy Nintendo bizzzzzotch!
Yah, err, uh. So basically what little good Sony/has/ done is in relationship to their Console biz (big whoop) and has otherwise continually screwed people over in standard big business fashion?
Sony is the McDonald's of hardware
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Lovely Crap ! Buy my delicious CRAP !
"I like Sony because my mobile phone now has a vibrator on a cord which I can leave all day up my ass !!!" "It even sends 20000 volts if I download mp3 songs with no DRM intalled !"
Sony had a patent on a thing called a "Trinitron", which gave their TVs the best picture quality.
Now Sony televisions are outclassed by practically every mainstream manufacturer imho.
Sony used to make the best sounding cassette walkmans. Not any more. Now their minidisc players suck for sound quality compared to Panasonic, Sharp etc. Just read the reviews.
Sony music, and indeed "Sony's music" suck. Full stop.
I will quite happily steal certain software packages given the opportunity (eg Windows, If I ever needed to run a Windows app), since I don't believe it's stealing.
Now if somebody offered me a free bit of Sony hardware, stolen straight from the factory, I wouldn't regard that as stealing either. I can see Sony throwing unsold minidisc-walkmans into the landfill in an attempt to purposefully inlate the street price.
Would you put it past them? Don't forget that even Apple is guilty of that crime.
Feedbak to Sony
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Contact Sony and notify them of your intentions to boycot their shi^H^H^H products.
Right after "fiendish plan" please insert the following:
"and shows you the self-destruct mechanism"
--
I take drugs seriously.
slashdot reader != average person
by
mass2k
·
· Score: 1
the sad thing abou this is, that most (75%+) people are not even going to KNOW about this, if the mainstream media doesnt punch it into their brains 12 hours a day and makes it sound dramatic.
so, we, the slashdot readers, maybe ARE going to boycott sony's DRM (i already boycott sony and audio cds..) but the general public will go on as they used to.
i believe sony will actually get thru with this and ill just get mader at sony.
too bad the world doesnt consist of slashdot readers;)
From the article: consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market.
I think it means that they will be able to tell what people really like and make more of the same. Which means that those of us that don't match middle-america tastes are fucked.
-- Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
DON'T BUY ANYTHING PROTECTED BY SONY'S DRM TECHNOLOGY.
It's so easy, if you don't want it, don't pay for it. Go rant about how you have the right to privacy, but you have no constitutionally protected right to rent movies or buy music. And I don't see how you have any right to tell someone else how to do business.
--
A: None. The Universe spins the bulb, and the Zen master merely stays out of the way.
It's so easy, if you don't want it, don't pay for it. Go rant about how you have the right to privacy, but you have no constitutionally protected right to rent movies or buy music. And I don't see how you have any right to tell someone else how to do business.
I agree with you completely. A very specific question was asked, and I gave the best answer I could. I did not say that I had the right to tell someone else how to do business. Nor do I have the right to expect you to read a thread carefully.
-- God is real unless declared integer
Re:Simple answer.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I agree with you completely. A very specific question was asked, and I gave the best answer I could. I did not say that I had the right to tell someone else how to do business. Nor do I have the right to expect you to read a thread carefully.
Oh, I'm sorry, Simetra asks why privacy is important (obviously in reference to the technology at hand), and you take that as an opportunity to jump on your 'the government is watching me just because I like to read up on bomb-making and mein kampf, and this is obviously equivalent to making crude inquiries about masturbation and spousal expressions at climax' soapbox. But since you took him out of context, and I try to see how this relates to the topic, I'm out of line. So sorry.
...a DFM (Digital Financial Management) spyware that that reports from Sony to its customers where and how it delegates the money they collect from sales.
They want to know where their money goes; fair enough, I want to know where my money goes too.
Hmmm, some shady accounting tricks here. Hmmm, extravagant expenses at the **AA meetings. Hmmm, campaign contributions to politicians. Hmmm, large payouts to federal lobbyists. Hmmm, who is "our man Kaplan"?
It hurts to wear that shoe, doesn't it?
-- Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
Re:bottom line.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
When the day comes that PC have been legislated into personal home surveillance devices will be the day I give up computers and the internet entirely. The only reason this crap is happening at all is because so many people just don't care, even if they are aware of the issues.
I believe that the internet/PC that M$, the RIAA, and all the other special interests really want to create is just like the Chinese Internet or any fundamentalist state. (Where did they get the technology to build those systems, hmm?)
The PC is convenient and adds tremendously to the quality of my home life. These DRM laws and totalitarian control measures are going to destroy that.
The solutions to this are available and practical, but can only work with large-scale participation.
Boycott companies that employ these technologies and tell them so. Register and vote Write to your representative/senator and give him/her money! Inform anyone who will listen about the threat that these technologies are to them Found local clubs, raise money, and broadcast the message to the masses Stage demonstrations and be loud in denouncing these technologies (a million geek march on Washington? I'll see ya there!) Teach your no-so-internet-savy friends about security, privacy, and how to safeguard themselves.
The cattle need to be motivated - to stampede away from the slaughterhouse!!
Of COURSE it adds entertainment and excitement!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I don't know about you, but I find cracking a lamebrained scheme highly entertaining. Don't you guys like a good puzzle? Considering that copy protected CDs hit the internet BEFORE the store shelves, I assume I'm not the only one who enjoys this pastime.
As to the MORE EXCITING, well, the DMCA took care of that... what's more exciting than committing a felony that can put you in jail for 5 years? Especially a felony that hurts no one and shouldn't even be a misdemeanor?
See, it has nothing to do with Britany! In fact, most Britany records are purchased only to crack and post, nobody actually LISTENS to them.
Sony has proven themselves time and time again deserving of a permanent boycott, but no matter how much I tell my friends to avoid Sony, they still end up drooling over whatever cool shit Sony puts out (Clie, Vaio, PS2).
Even ignoring the political issues of a boycott, their products are just not worth buying. They have good design (cool cases and good UIs), and their CRTs do look good, but their quality has gone downhill in the last 20 yrs (ask a TV repair shop if you don't believe me). It breaks just as often as the cheaper stuff, and sometimes more often (ask a Vaio laptop owner).
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
Kashif+Shaikh
·
· Score: 1
Meanwhile, pirates continue to find ways to circumvent copyrights. Sales keep dropping. The Supreme Court eventually shoots down key parts of the DMCA--and the DMCA is so screwy, this isn't a matter of if, but when--and suddenly we're allowed to _legally_ circumvent copyrights.
DMCA was invented by guys in black trench coats, black hats, with hairy faces. They couldn't fight hackers, so they bought legislation.
Any corporations knows this--
Recipe for **AA self-destruction
by
markmoss
·
· Score: 2
1) Buy the Sony game with included spyware.
2) Write a script to attempt to copy it once a minute. (DO NOT test it unless physically unplugged from the internet.)
3) Hack the MPAA, RIAA, etc., servers and upload the game and the script. (You may have to ask your fellow hackers to please stop DOS'ing them for a while, but as clueless as these people seem to be, breaking in ought to be easy.)
4) Wait for Sony to look at the logs and send out their teams of trained attack lawyers...
Disclaimer: This is a joke. I'm not advocating anyone do anything illegal like breaking into evil organizationss' computers and illegally copying software there-to. Really I'm not. Really...
You can always use AOL simple firewall....
by
lonesome_searcher
·
· Score: 1
Its an application with just one huge button saying 'press here' and when you press it your computer sets fire. Genious. No more viruses. No wonder we all love connie so much...
Since when is content a fucking service? Content is a product. It may be a low-brow product (like anything on FOX or toilet bowl cleaner) or a high-brow product (like jewelery) but it is still a product. I can hug it and cuddle it or stomp it into the dirt if I want to. Now, if it was a service, things would be different. I don't encourage you to hug or cuddle or stomp on your maid. But it's not. Its a product, and once I've forked over the $50 or whatever it costs its mine.
-- A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
I can't wait for the Linux kernel module that listens for this things traffic, DNATs the connection to itself, forges the correct "you can view" responses and then SNATs back a response... Once the DRM software is reverse engineered, the nat module (or DRM proxy, if you will) should be a very quick hack.
"As for Privacy, So What?"... farging iceholes!
by
tlambert
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
"What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you?"
No. They are going to torture me in situ. Saves on the transport costs.
The are going to fricking SPAM the crap out of me every time a new album by an artist for who I own one disc comes out, and then once a week after that for the rest of my fricking life, until they see I've bought the damned thing by way of my player reporting the fact to them.
This will happen, even if the original disc was a present, and I played it *one time*, just to be polite.
If I play something multiple times, then every time before the player is willing to play the disc I already own, it's going to play a K-TEL commercial for the new disc or "if you like Bob Marley, you'll LOVE Jimmy Cliff!" or *whatever*.
Every time I pick up my Sony cordless phone, it's going to complain that I haven't called my mother in a while, would I please press "*" now, so that they can connect me "using their honorable partner MCI's new, cheaper long distance service". Only after three repetitions of this will I get a dialtone and be able to use my phone to call who I wanted to call in the first place.
If I don't buy anything from them in a while, they'll mark me "inactive" in their database, which means that I'm not making them money, so they will feel free to capitalize on the information by selling it; after all, if I'm not "loyal" to their brand, why shouldn't they turn the information they have into money some other way, since there's no risk of them offending me into not buyinf from them -- I'm already not buying from them?
The *ONLY* benefit to consumers in this case is that they *WON'T* SPAM me about things I already own.
Unless they are about to release a new album by an artist whose disc I haven't played in a while, in which case they'll remind me to play the thing to "prime the pump" so I'll be more likely to buy the new one.
Until they figure out how to convert everything to "pay per listen", at which point, they will SPAM me for *everything*, ALL THE FREAKING TIME, FOR THE REST OF MY SHORT, MISERABLE LIFE!
And as I lay DYING in my bathtub, the BLOOD running from my GINSU(tm)-KNIFE-SLITTED WRISTS, finally escaping this horror... the Sony shower radio will come on and try to sell me MR. SPARKLE cleanser for my bathtub that is guaranteed to get out the blood stains I'm likely to leave.
AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
-- Terry
I HAVE already payed for the right to make copies.
by
Mordaximus
·
· Score: 1
" If the artist or publisher did not intend to distribute their work for free, then copying it from someone else is stealing, plain and simple. This is wrong and should be prevented or punished appropriately."
Dear Senator Hollings, That statement is completely false (at least in Canada.) Copying something FOR someone else is illegal. Copying something for myself is not, in fact, I PAY a tax on blank media, regardless of it's eventual purpose, that goes to compensate the artists in the music industry for lost revenue from person copies. personal copies != stealing != piracy. Don't try to make people who excercise their legal rights feel like criminals! Why on earth do you need a system to report perfecly legal activities to the copyright holders who have already been compensated for the copying??
Only Ross Perot could fund such projects. Hay, I get it...
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
Carrot007
·
· Score: 1
> Companies come out with competing DRM technologies. The industry will become clogged with this stuff, because they all think they're going to get rich if they make _their_ DRM the industry standard.
that's because they probably WILL.
> Consumers say, "Screw that, I don't want disabled junk."
Are not the type of consumers they are after, they more go after the same FAT LARD ASSSED MOTHERFUCKERS that can't survive 5 minutes withough going to McDonalds or BK, or more than likely BOTH. (sorry for the emphasis and stereotyping but, hey it helps and believe me i've met people liek that!)
The consumers (they want) don't know what they want they want what there told they want.
In essence we're all fucked and I persoannly blame americans, because thats all there usefull for.
-- +-----------------
| What is the question!
Re:So... per WARGAMES
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
" the only way to win is not to play at all!"
I'm glad Sonny is no longer part of my vocabulary or whatever...
what's next? will sony aquire a "shoot to kill" policy on p2p users?
seriously, though.. about the "don't buy cd's" campaign.I think, musically speaking, we can divide the world into those who ocasionally listen to a tune, and buy 5 cd's a year, and the muzak fanatics who need their daily dose of (insert music style here).
now, in theory, if this boycott would spread and last, artists would get pissed of at record companies because sales drop to all-time lows, and start to do something, for their own good. also, the rec companies themselves will either change their wicked ways or crumble.
but then, think again. all those shiny great songs you find on your favourite napster ancestor have to be ripped from somewhere. most likely from a cd. that means, for music to spread in the net, someone has to buy cds. now if you like mainstream pop, your chances of finding songs you like are big, for there are probably gazillions of p2p users that have never heard about the crap the rec companies pull. but if you are into a bit more advanced music, then, bad luck. now the question is, how long can the true fans of audio live without new stuff? not very long, I guess.
in conclusion, buying less to no cds is a noble and good idea to at least show sony et al there is some resistance, but to archive something, we have to think of other ways.
now, honestly, what these ways are, I have no idea at the moment.
-- Karma: Soylent Green (Mostly due to eating junk food and mocking religion)
Re:I HAVE already payed for the right to make copi
by
Daetrin
·
· Score: 2
Here's a cluehammer: he didn't say copying it for himself, he said copying it _from someone else._ Which as you yourself said, "copying something for someone else is illegal"
He then goes on at great length about how personal copies are perfectly legal and okay.
-- This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Maybe this Decision is the Result of...
by
Rune69
·
· Score: 1
Seriously, this link is more scary than funny, because it reflects how most consumers think concerning all that the media ogres are trying to accomplish. The average Joe or Jane Somebody will shrug his/her shoulders, agree to whatever liberty-crushing licenses, and never really know that they signed away their rights and the rights of their grandchildren in order to play Resident Evil 32.
Spread the word, keep your friends and family from becoming digital serfs.
--
When faced with a problem, many web developers say "I know, I'll use JavaScript!". Now they have two problems.
Since "the consumer in general" isn't trusted, all DRM will eventually fail. PKI isn't a silver bullet, as a viewer of conent the only thing I need to be able to decrypt is the movie I want to watch. If I need Sony's private key for that then it's not a very "private" key is it?
Sure, Sony can put a unique private key in each player, but how well do you really think the private key inside that player can be protected? We've already established it can't be protected as software on a PC. The challenge of "key hidden in hardware" hasn't been pushed all the way yet, but early indications are this only makes it more difficult, not impossible.
It only takes one decryptor to "open" a whole lot of content, especially if content is simple. This is why the DRM initiatives are so Draconian and against allowing any "open" content at all. If your PC won't play any open content without major mods, they might keep many consumers out of the market for "open" goods. (look at game consoles for an example of this)
...and I vow: no Vaio either. (Sad -- I did like their size)
Sony doesn't deserve any money from anybody
by
drx
·
· Score: 1
Sony is so arrogant it is sometimes even funny. I called their service line because the screen of my two year old, incredibly expensive Vaio notebook wasn't working anymore, obviously a hardware defect. I was connected with a service personal and asked how long the fixing would take, how much it would roughly cost and where to send this computer to.
I was told as my computer was two years old, any information they give to me will cost 20 Euros.
My answer was that first of all i think this is insane and secondly i do not have a credit card. I was told if i don't have a credit card then i should use somebody else's. I said this is impossible and was told that i would have to transfer the money to Sony in this case. After that (takes usually 2 to 3 days) he would be happy to answer my questions.
Remind you, the question was just how much a repair would cost and how long it would take.
When i tried to buy a notebook battery from them i was as well treated as if i had leprosy.
I feel ashamed i ever gave Sony any money.
Re:Sony doesn't deserve any money from anybody
by
bilsaysthis
·
· Score: 1
I really like my Vaio, thought the price was fair for the features 18 months ago and the screen is great.
But now I have 802.11b set up and wanted to take my laptop to the local coffee shop with no-fee WiFi service. Got there only to find myself with a "Battery less than 10% charged...shutting down" message on bootup. Oddly the battery showed 100% charged when I left home but I'd never tried to use the battery before.
Calling the Sony support line I got the same "Pay us $20 before we'll talk with you" message. They don't even stock the battery on the website by now (18/19 months after purchase) and other stores want at least $183.
Fsck Sony! But are other companies all that much better? MS, Dell, HP, Sun have all been slammed here in the recent past. Laptops are not really build at home projects after all. Fsck them all!
Gee... Sony is the one who can do this among M5
by
spacefight
·
· Score: 1
Sony Corp is
a) Sony Music and
b) Sony Digital Entertainement and therefore is the customer and the client of this fscking new technology sitting in the same house (ok let's say, the same bed). SM produces the Music which SDEs hardware should take care about the DRM, homecalling and so on... I do not wonder that they came along with this nasty little idea. Plain fact: The MiniDisc I bought last year was the last Sony item (I just stepped back from buying a new Clié, I will let them know) I bought for exactly as long as Sony respects the fair use of the music they distribute (produce is definitivly the wrong word here).
Sony, clean up you reputation...! So, is there any other close relationship out between the hardware guys and the marketing lobbyists like in the Sony HDQ?
Company X: We have designed the perfect solution to copyright infringement, our new technology is unbelievably advance....almost 3 years in the making. This time we're FOR REAL.
15 minutes later.....
Bored Teenager: Wow, so thats how they did it.
2 days later:
Bored Teenager: Uhh I found a security flaw in your new Super Duper Extra Secret Copy Protection
Company X: Shoot him, he's EVIL. Years of work and millions down the drain, kill him I say!!
Bored Teenager: Shit...I was only trying to help
BANG BANG BANG
Company X: HAHAHAHA lets see someone pull a stunt like that again.
Seriously, they waste more money trying to stop copying than they lose by allowing it to occur. Don't those fancy accountants they pay tell them that?
--
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1 015.asp
A spin on the old, if Microso
DRM will never "solve" piracy issues
by
Xebikr
·
· Score: 1
All DRM will do is make "average" Joe Consumer play by the media companies rules.
I'm becoming convinced that the MP/RIAA are not at all afraid of online file sharing and piracy. They are merely using it as a tool to get what they've always wanted all along: Control. Control over what people watch and listen to. Where they can do it and how much they pay for it. The percentage of the population that can bypass DRM tools is very small, so those few will give them the ammo they need to pass laws to control the rest.
Did anyone else notice that this thing is basically called OMG? Perhaps they anticipated our response to this mess...;)
-- -- This sig for rent.
You're not getting the real danger
by
surprise_audit
·
· Score: 1
A lot of people are saying, "Screw that, we won't buy DRM restricted hardware, etc", but think for a minute...
Suppose a motherboard manufacturer quietly includes some whiz-bang DRM stuff, but leaves it disabled, or suppose a cpu manufacturer builds DRM right into their latest over-2GHz cpus, again leaving it disabled, and then one day a magic packet/program shows up that PERMANENTLY enables the DRM hardware...
Maybe we already have such stuff and don't know it... Maybe your brand new, sparkly DVD/CD-RW combo drive will suddenly refuse to copy cd's after you play a Celine or Britney cd that has the enabler builtin? Maybe your motherboard will conspire with your brand-name, closed-source OS to secretly deliver email regarding your DVD/CD usage?
So what if you firewall? I'd be surprised if the proprietary OS couldn't slip something past your in-system firewall below the packet level, and if you have a separate firewall, are you filtering outbound email for destination?
Heck, doesn't even need to be email, it could be encrypted form data going to a secure web server. Could even be a DNS lookup -
Do you filter those? What other protocols do you pass? NTP to a time server? POP, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS? How about the various Instant Messengers?
What it comes down to is, they only have to be lucky once to catch you. You have to be lucky all the time...
Remember DAT? Of course not.
by
Xebikr
·
· Score: 1
This was the very problem with Digital Audio Tape (DAT). Before the RIAA allowed it to be released in the US, it had to have DRM. It would only let you make one copy of the original, no matter who owned the content. They (content companies, not some genric they out there) want control. Complete control.
Re:I love it. They're digging their own hole.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
The Supreme Court eventually shoots down key parts of the DMCA--and the DMCA is so screwy, this isn't a matter of if, but when--and suddenly we're allowed to _legally_ circumvent copyrights.
You mean DRM (copy protection, access controls). Copy "protection" (i.e., anti-copying technology that blindly denies legal and illegal use alike) and copyright (a limited legal monopoly) are two very different things.
The people pushing DRM often try to conflate the two (by incorrectly using "copyright protection" to describe DRM), and the media often falls into this trap, but we should not.
That's not how I read it
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
I read the Sony announcement a couple times and I don't believe that what's stated there supports the contention of this item.
Sorry, but I just can't see anything indicating communication from the _user_ back to the content owner. Perhaps from the user's interaction with a server/distribution site. But that's all. -- AstroSurf
Re:I HAVE already payed for the right to make copi
by
Scott+Treppa
·
· Score: 1
It doesn't matter. If you are going to copy something for yourself or for someone else they can't tell. So instead assuming that you are innocent until proven guilty you ARE GUILTY.
Why would they need to put these "precautions" into place unless they believed that YOU are a criminal. In there eyes you WILL commit a crime, and they are going to throw out "fair use" to stop you.
'Education and religion are two things not regulated by supply and demand. The less of either the people have, the less they want.
- [Charlotte Observer, 1897]'
Sony has finally gone nuts
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
With this they are risking alienation of huge numbers of cutomers. I for one will never buy a CD or anything else that makes me send anything to the copyright holder. I buy something, I expect to be able to use it when ever and on what ever I like.
What about if you do not have a internet connection, or as is so comon here its down. Are you prevented from using something you have paid for?
As others have said, there is no hope of me letting this or anything else I do not wantthrough my firewall.
If this ask is not bad enough, bandwidth here (Australia) is very expensive, so in effect I would be paying sony for the media/product etc, then paying the ISP (from hell) I use again for the pleasure of using something I already own.
If the copyright holders want to reduce piracy they could start by dropping the prices.
1) Copy the original *once*. Put the original back in its box. Never look at it again.
2) Massage the copy as needful until it behaves itself and stops crying to mama every time you look at it.
3) View this final copy as often as you please.
-- ~REZ~
#43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
This may only be the beginning...
by
OnyxSphinx
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· Score: 1
Here's a horrifying thought that I haven't seen very often here...
Say this DRM bull gets put into everything new that comes out for us "consumers"...
Then, say in the interest of national security or whatnot, some security agency finds a way to do more with the DRM technology than just check if someone's pirating or not.
I have to wonder if the corps like Sony even realize what this sort of technology could be used for in the future, particularly stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with fighting alleged piracy.
You always have to ask, "What's next?" Unfortunately, not very many people seem to these days...
-- --
The silencing of the many will be golden to the few.
I guess that explains Goldeneye
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
James Bond was the author of the book "Birds of the West Indies"
Re:How to circumvent Digital Copy Protection step
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
1: Record music/video onto analog media. (ok , games could be a problem here:) End. Problem solved. I really don't see why people get so uptight about these copy protection systems. Can't copy a track because of some block in the OS or player? Simple, tee off from the speaker cables into analogue record input connector of your choice. Its really quite simple.
My Soundblaster Audigy came with recorder software that lets you choose which input you want to record. One of the settings is "What you hear." It grabs the signal right off the card as it's going to the speakers (ala AudioGrabber). You can choose to record at 96K, 48K or 44.1K. I tried it today and there was no noticable loss of quality. A good solution for me if all else fails.
As an aside, I just reinstalled Win2K SP2 on one system today and then applied the SP3 patch. What should show up on my c: drive but a System folder called "DRM". I think I'll move it and see what program might bitch or recreate it.
Re:I HAVE already payed for the right to make copi
by
Daetrin
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· Score: 2
That's mostly irrelevant to the issue being discussed above. We weren't talking about the actions the RIAA has taken or what the RIAA wants us to believe is illegal, we were talking about whether copying music from someone else is illegal.
The RIAA is starting from something that most people would agree is wrong, everyone listening to the work of an artist, but the artist getting zero compensation for it, and then blow it so far out of proportion and stretch it to cover so many things that no one would believe that one has anything to do with the other, except for the paid politicians of course.
-- This Space Intentionally Left Blank
all digital MD solution
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
you need more equipment. i use a sony cd-r deck and a sony MD deck to get all digital copy of original MD recording from portable MD.
1. stick MD disc in MD deck (hooked to cd-r deck (sony rcd-w1) with optical cable) hit play 2.hit record on cd-r deck (this method even preserves track marks, up to first 99) 3.stick cd-r (actually i use same cd-rw over and over) in computer, use I-tunes to rip to hard drive, do with what you please.
yes it sucks that this is the only way to do it with track marks (also from a MD deck to an audio card with optical in, but no track marks), but the equipment comes in handy for other stuff, and as long as they keep forcing me to buy hardware because i steal software, welll, i'm going to keep stealing software. actually, i'm going to keep stealing software no matter what.
Re:How to circumvent Digital Copy Protection step
by
kyletinsley
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· Score: 1
My Soundblaster Audigy came with recorder software that lets you choose which input you want to record.
Which program is that? (It'll save me some time in looking.) I got the Audigy Platnium and the damn thing comes with 3 or 4 CDs... I haven't even installed everything that came on the 1st CD yet...
I hate greed
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
AAAAARGH !!!!! All these discussions, these billions of messages on the net, all magazines, TV stories, radio news, all about greedy BASTARDS from filthy rich world-eating companies, trying to look "good-purposed" and "concerned with bad people". DAMN!
Don't the STUPID people around this rotten world see these are COMMERCIAL COMPANIES, they exist for one and only purpose: to MAKE MONEY. That's the very REASON they are OPEN, otherwise they would NOT be commercial companies! All they are supposed to do is satisfy their owners/shareholder's GREED and desire! ARGH!
They say they are protecting copyright for the legitimate right owners, that they are good people, but the moment the artists say, as a simple EXAMPLE, try to get something for free or beat someone up because they are standing up for their threatened girlfriend in a bar fight, the companies completely turn their backs on them!
There is no such thing as good-intentioned companies. It is all about profit. It will always be like that, so never mind new digital copyright techniques, we only get what we accept. You do NOT have to live as a money feed for the companies.
And I tell you all, the day this "war" gets too nasty, and the companies try to FORCE their methods and schemes down everyone's throats, there WILL be war all over the planet. Real war. People are instinctively FREE!
Slashdot Mirror
The Spyman!
Je t'aime Stéphanie
Finally, a real erason for someone with a Windows machine (or Linux for that matter) to have a firewall...
Moderation: Put your hand inside the puppet head!
On the other hand... remember DIVX?
This sig no verb.
How is it spyware if they tell you it's sending data to the copyright holder? Isn't spyware supposed to be a bit more subtle than that?
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
pr0n? i bet they'd be interested in THAT
Do I need to be connected to the internet to use it? And does it honestly think I'm going to let it past my firewall to report its findings?
I love how the name hase Open in it. What are the chances DRM software is open sorce.
Open my ass. Trying to give people a warm fuzzy?
"Installation not only on PCs, but also on networked devices such as PlayStation 2, AV devices, and mobile devices" Great..if this comes with my PS 3, I'm not buying one.
What company needs to know that...
DVD - Naughty Coed Cheerleaders in Heat IV
Viewed 23,433 times
It seems like the latest trend is to prefix Open on anything that's proprietary and evil to try and trick "Open Source" hackers into thinking it's not so bad.
A musician without the RIAA, is like a fish without a bicycle.
Perhaps they will work towards a pay-per-listen strategy. Then I won't have to listen to teenagers blasting the same Brittany Spears song over and over again.
I try to copy it 1,000,000 times?
So how much do I get charged if I hum a tune in my head? Oh Shit, what If I have a dream and its a musical? Damn!
Glad I use zone alarm. It seems like their is a lot of this "phone home" technology being built into more and more applications. I like knowing whats trying to get in and out of my system and being able to accept or deny it.
...probably within the week. anything that Phones Home can be effectively neutered by changing a few bytes.
Cretin - a powerful and flexible CD reencoder
At the same time, "OpenMG Jukebox", a content compression, management, and playback technology installed in PCs, has been developed to restrict illegal copying of music content from CDs and the Internet. This application is pre-installed in VAIO and is compatible with Sony's portable audio players
^^^Well I guess this means I won't be buying myself a new VAIO anymore. This means I can't keep my (legal) CD collection on my computer anymor. How is a computer suppose to know what is legal? If I go to Denmark, does it then knw that its' all of a sudden legal for me to have copies of my own cds?
How could they say something so blatntly suptid.
Pants are optional, but recomended for you.
And how long will it be before blocking their DRM management server in your personal firewall is considered circumventing the DMCA?
It's humerous that one of the biggest Japanese companies is so concerned with intellectual property. The Japanese reputation with regards to Patent enforcement is a model for the anti-Amazon burn-the-patents crowd. This is illustrated by, for example, Texas Instruments getting bent over by Fujitsu in 97.
Karma police, I've given all I can, it's not enough, I've given all I can, but we're still on the payroll.
If they want to deploy this to "static" platforms like Playstation, then it's going to be one iteration of code. Crack it once, job done, they can hardly force people to upgrade the bios in their consoles etc so there's no real reliable way of auto-deploying a patch.
Sony says:
...
In future, the following capabilities will be required for DRM (Digital Rights Management) in expanding the digital content distribution business.
3. Installation not only on PCs, but also on networked devices such as PlayStation 2, AV devices, and mobile devices.
I'm not eager to have Sony keeping track of the games and music I'm playing on my PlayStation. This is a good opportunity for Nintendo to distinguish themselves by embracing freedom.
"If I could live to be several hundred
I could take a walk and really wander, really wonder."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Let's say the copyrighted product is a CD or DVD. Well, I can rip either one of those into another format. Let's say I convert it to MP3/DIVX. Then I could convert those formats to OGG/DV formats. By now, there is no way to track where it came from and what content is in the files, right? I mean, in the end all of these systems can be avoided. And if we know they're out there, we just don't buy any more sony computers EVER (or microsoft software or REAL software, etc, etc).
I do not think there is any software that could scan an Ogg Vorbis file and determine at all what song it is. Even if it did that, it could not determine what album it came from (original/CD single/live/greatest hits/various artists version). The whole idea of DRM just drives me crazy!
---gralem
Unless I'm blatently reading into this wrong, it appears that sony isn't intending on this hitting CD/DVD media. It appears that they are trying to legitimize purely digital content(MP3/DivX/etc) by tracking it. While I'm not for this type of behaviour, it's a legitimate attempt at creating a system of legal file swapping(I pay 5$ for an mp3 and they are satisfied that if I use the proprietary player it's not going to be copied to 1,000,000 people).
man, forget about "disabling" this device, this is exactly what we need!
think about it. all that has to happen is one geek cracks the code. then distribute it. then get a few people together and make a database of all the different codes for different games. end result? get a nice little program that artificially inflates the stats for your favorite games!
forget running SETI of d.net, just run PS stacker in the background, sending of piles of info back to the mothership about how gamers REALLY LOVE BUSHIDO BLADE!!!
at least that's one way to do it. besides, break it entirely and they'll come up with another one. better to tweak it and use it to your advantage.
/translator.pl?gibberish="This will provide content holders and distributors with the bigger opportunities to widen the ways of secure content distribution to various devices while consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market." Translation: This will not only make content far more restricted, but will also record and track your activities while giving new marketing information to the mega corporations and allow them to scheme with greater efficiency in dolling out overpriced drivel to the masses for consumption. Ok, just wanted to make that clear.
There is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -Hamlet
I highly recommend it over ps2 anyway. Sure there aren't as many games, but they are all good!
1: Record music/video onto analog media. (ok , games could be a problem here :)
End.
Problem solved. I really don't see why people get
so uptight about these copy protection systems.
Can't copy a track because of some block in the OS
or player? Simple, tee off from the speaker cables into analogue record input connector of
your choice. Its really quite simple.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"Cunts"
Obviously you've never seen Spies Like Us. I mean they were spies, right, but was there any subtlety? No, I thought not. Don't even get me started on Ishtar...
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
i agree it really cant be considered spyware as they tell you up front about it but spyware is also told to you in some deep dark elu agreement so it all depends if they make it very open or hide it in a elu somewhere firewall my best guess from dealing with sony software and support is (and only my opinion not sonys) they probaly included it in one of there software programes that comes on all there pcs or included it into the win media player and it would be sent back via one of winxp's back doors like the "generic host process" or other software that requiers updates for codecs thus forcing you to give it internet access and sending the data back to big brother --- i'm more consered with what they want to do with this data is it internal use or externail marketing -- also did anyone read the elu agreement for a sony pc (probaly modified the same for any oem pc) but the microsoft agreement is modified buy oem's to say something like " you give us the right to enter your pc with/out you'r knowledge and view or alter your files" -- look closely its there on most recovery cds the first thing you see --- you do know that whan you update with microsoft they let the oem know
I agree. No more Sony purchases -- and that includes the Clie I'd been considering. Lessee... my permanent boycott list now features, on the tech side, Microsoft and Sony...
Announcing "OpenMG X"
....
- Digital Rights Management and Distribution Technology
-Promoting distribution of digital content which respects copyright-
Tokyo, Japan
Sony Corporation today announced "OpenMG X", a digital rights manag
eh, screw it, it's sony, let 'em hurt....
Set DVCopy to RW
Set copies to make to "continuous"
Set Responses to "automatic"
Turn monitor off.
Come back in 6 months and check progress.....
Day 1: AIBO received as present
Day 2: AIBO found looking through personal CD collection.
Day 3: AIBO attempts to sabotage my chipped PS2. I reprimand it by frowning sternly and saying "Bad dog" but it just wags its tail and pretends like it doesn't understand.
Day 4: AIBO swallows the laser assembly of my CD burner. Claims it was hungry.
Day 5: AIBO starts leaving little piles of Memory Sticks all over the house.
Day 6: AIBO trashes my RioVolt by trying to mate with it.
Day 7: AIBO returned to store, exchanged for TiVo.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just to fuck with 'em.
OpenMG X
Let's see.
Uses a word with benevolent connotations ("Open")... +2 points
Followed up by a small abbreviation that terminates with the "ee" sound... +3 points.
Incorporates X somehow... +4 points.
Fails to use an "e" or "i" prefix... -2 points.
Total:
2 + 3 + 4 - 2 = rights still getting FLUSHED DOWN THE TOI... I mean, 7 points! Good work to everyone involved!
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Grep the number of times "illegal copying" is found (in this case, 3)
Grep the number of times "protect content" is found (in this case, 2)
Grep the number of times "making people pay more for something so that it is deliberatly crippled to prevent them from doing things that they both would want to do and is perfectly legal to do": oops, zero in this case. Funny, I could have sworn it was in there somewhere.
The sad part of this is that if it really was a free market, this would never get off the ground. What consumer would pay for it?
It's not wasting time, I'm educating myself.
"OpenMG X consists of the following software modules:
1. An encoding module which adds digital rights management information, such as the number of times content was copied or played, to music/movie content and converts them into code at the distributors' end.
2. A server module which distributes digital rights management information on content to the users' end.
3. Client module for developing application software compatible with "OpenMG X" Sony has put the client module (#3) into practice and created "MAGIQLIP", the network music player for PC."
It sounds like that as long as you don't use the MAGIQLIP software, you're fine. Tell me if I'm missing something here, or they just thought up another half-assed copyright protection scheme.
They'll have to amend their motto to
IF Times 3
Go Create
Else
Go away you theif
From my Autobiography - "Lifestyles of the Sad and Desperate"...
It says RIGHT IN THE RELEASE that:
"This will provide content holders and distributors with the bigger opportunities to widen the ways of secure content distribution to various devices while consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market."
This will make your movies and music MORE EXCITING AND ENTERTAINING. Say goodbye to Britney and awful Elvis remixes. Say goodbye to slap-together Austin Powers' sequels crammed with product placements. THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL CURE US OF THAT.
I have yet to determine exactly how, but I happen to trust Sony. They told me the PS2 would be 1,000 times more powerful than the PS1, and dammit, we've all seen the results.
Why you guys can't get over your whining and just accept this new more exciting and entertaining future is beyond me.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
I have one of Sony's mp3 walkman, like this one.
The good thing about it is that it is small and works well. I only use it when running and the small size is perfect for that purpose. For my use, I don't care if I can't copy the files to another PC, that it counts the number of times that I have uploaded/downloaded to it(so you can't keep downloading to multiple devices I assume) or that it converts it to another format. So that is not a problem for my use of it.
However, I would kindly ask them to go f... themself if they want to track my usage of it. I have paid for my CD's that I download to it, I have paid for the entire product and I they want to get something from me, like collecting information, I want something back, something that would make it worth it.
Yes, I can enroll to their "community" and sample new music etc but that does not cut it.
The included software(OpenMG) was slow like a dog on my 1Ghz P3, even simple meny navigation sucks. I managed to misplace the program CD(stupid me), I still however have the cover with the serial number. It took an entire evening to find a place where I could find a upgrade that didn't require my version to be installed. I also found a version Real Jukebox that worked with my player but now that Real has gone on a extreme nagging crusade to get me to upgrade to their latest sucky Real player One, that too is getting unbearable.
Ok, so what am I saying? The hardware itself works great for me, it even have been covered in sweat(yuck) several times and still works. The small size and low weight is great when I go for that one hour run. But the software simply sucks to the extend that it is nearly unusable and with their latest great idea here, I am seriously considering to dump the bastard and find another player to use.
my sig
enhancing his ability to couNT how many sheets of charmin(tm) we use?
again, we may NEVER buy another cd/dvd/pc, until we're sure there's NO spyware on IT.
we're not opposed to paying for entertainment, &/or inf., but have LOTs of reservations about allowing megasloth.con access to our inf. for free, due to the obvious issues of MiStrust/larceny surrounding old mega's follIEs.
DivX was a 'disposable rental' disc (kinda like a MPEG-4 based DVD)
Now you're confusing Circuit City DIVX with DivX ;-). Circuit City DIVX used MPEG-2 technology because there was no MPEG-4 yet.
that was designed to let you play in 'n' times before becoming unplayable
No, the rental lasted 48 hours from when you first inserted it into a player. So it was like "UNLIMITED PLAYS!!1!1 <small>for 48 hours</small>" (remind you of AOL marketing?)
Will I retire or break 10K?
Is it legal to circumvent DRM spyware under the DMCA?
I would hope it is, since you can do so without violating the copyright holder's rights. But, you never know when lawyers are involved.
Who knows, there could be a way to block the data from even being written, similar to what was done to a previous and similar Sony technology...described: here.
I just bought a NetMD minidisc and the software that comes with it (openMG) only lets you "check in/out" your mp3's a whole 3 times. But that's not all, your not allowed to edit, delete, or upload the tracks to anything other than the pc where they came from.
P.S. Neat work around. Create a Nero image of the mp3's, mount it with nero's image drive and burn it with sony's SimpleBurn, all restrictions removed.
Now we just gotta get a workaround for uploading tracks via the USB cable.
From the press release,
Sony has put the client module (#3) into practice and created "MAGIQLIP", the network music player for PC
And I thought GNU, KDE, and Gnome application names were bad! Compared to this magiqlip nonsense, kasteroids and gnumeric are gems!
get around this with a magic marker too? Thank god for Sharpie's!
Pax Vobiscum
James Bond never did that good a job of hiding his identity either...
Yes he did. "007" was a code number, and "James Bond" was a code name designed not to sound like the name an agent would have but rather like the name a simple gardener would have. Do you really think a single secret agent could change his appearance that much between misssions (connery, moore, brosnan, etc)?
Likewise, who knows what this "Open Magic Gate" system truly holds?
Will I retire or break 10K?
I play cracked versions of downloaded games like GTA 3 on a modded PS2 while listening to burned music copied to CD using a Sony VAIO on an AIWA stereo I bought off of some guys truck.
And I wipe my arse with ultra charmin, not that cheap 1 ply stuff.
Sony, you can suck it.
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Thank you Sony for once again reminding me why i don't buy Sony products anymore.
Ever since the DCMA controversy started i stopped buying Sony products - any Sony products. I don't care if they're good or bad, geeckish or general consumer, music, video, electronics or whatever - i purposely avoid any and all products from Sony any any company i know is part of the Sony "empire".
I've voted with my wallet - What about YOU?
Damn it...I can never keep up!
Sorry guys, but I might have to like them again when the network package for PS2 comes out in a couple weeks. And online Madden 2K3...
Mmmm...Madden...
- don't
want to raped up the nose by Sony (or J. Random Corporation).In summary: This will harm no-one but the people who still support them.
Then I will develop a little box to sit between your PS and the server and report everything as 0.
The nintendo gamecube is the only console to *ever* offer a wireless controller that works, and works really, really well. Plus, the basic controller design is perfectly fine and basically equivalent to every other controller. They even have a cool detente at the end of the two shoulder triggers. You need to reduce your crack intake, AC.
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I've always thought that one of the flaws in capitalism is that it's largely based on positive feedback. A company knows if it's doing something right because money comes in. Sure a company knows if it's doing something wrong because money isn't coming in but they don't necessarily know what they're doing wrong. This results in a waste of resources as a company flounders around trying to find the problem.
The page referenced in the article includes a link to a contact page. Go there. Let Sony know now that you consider this direction to be counterproductive and if they go forward with it you'll vote with your wallet and your opinions should your friends, relatives or employer ask.
This is just another reason to implement my simple plan:
Most geeks own more than one computer, so this is no big deal. If not, then buy one, you lazy asshole.
Plan:
1 box connected to internet. Put your games and IM crap on this machine.
1 box not connected to the internet in ANY way shape or form. NO NETWORKS OF ANY GODDAMNED KIND. Put everything else on this machine, and do whatever you like without any worry. Watch kiddie porn, reverse engineer Jesus, type up flyers about Scientoligists eating babies, anything "illegal" or "wrong"....who cares!
Only drawback is the hassle of transfers between one box to the other via hard copies and the money you may or may not spend on another box if you want to.
I figure another decade or so, and this will be the only way to avoid spyware/crazy shit.
---------------------------
What corporate america fails to realize is that the value of a CD lies not just in the physical device, but in the ability for the end user to enjoy the content as they see fit - to copy it to their computer, to make mixed CD's, etc... So my question to Sony is this: How do you expect to make money selling a product that nobody wants? Consumers DON'T WANT copy-restricted media or PC's. I, for one, won't be buying any Sony products in the future for fear that I won't be able to copy CD's that I have legimately paid for, or burn CD's of my own "copyrighted" original material.
How long will it be before running an unlicensed, unregistered software program will be illegal? This DRM scheme is just an incremental step in Corporate America's plan to levy a tax on everything done on a PC. Think about this folks - Sony is trying to take away our freedoms. Spend accordingly.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
I may just go with Casio. Seems like the strategy has backfired on this wallet.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I do not think there is any software that could scan an Ogg Vorbis file and determine at all what song it is.
You think wrong. Relatable offers audio fingerprinting technology that creates a hash of an audio clip, which is useful for determining what recording it belongs to. Apparently, Napster was thinking of using it until the service was shut down and converted to a completely opt-in system.
And yes, it may get confused sometimes on cover songs, but that's the whole point: under copyright law, a songwriter is entitled to a royalty for every sale of a CD containing his or her copyrighted work.
Will I retire or break 10K?
It seems like no one, not even Sony, learned the lessons of the DIVX player -- no one wants to be spied on in their own home, making use of products that they own.
I don't know if I'll be keeping my Playstation 2 (with LAN adapter) or even buying a PS3 now. If I do, I'll certainly be tweaking the firewall a bit, because, frankly, it's none of Sony's business how I make use of my hardware.
If we were to compare consumer electronics to automobiles, it would be illegal for me to swap out the fuel injector chip in my car, to install a better air filter, or put a different brand of tires on it when the old ones needed replacing. Hell, it would require me to buy a whole new car when the tires went bald. Of course, laws like this might not be bad -- we'd get all those kids and their "race-ready" Civics and Tiburons off the fucking street. (I, for one, cringe at the sound of a 4-cylinder with a modified exhaust system. And those "carrying handle" spoilers ruining a perfectly nice-looking Mitsubishi Eclipse are just a fucking eyesore.)
Anyway, the point being, if Sony thinks they can ram this down people's throats, they're in for a rude shock. It's bad enough that a game costs $50 -- even a year after it's been released, but now they're demanding to know how often you play it? Gimme a break.
The social effect of this, I think is going to turn the neighborhood computer geek into the equivelent of the neighborhood car mechanic, circa 1930 -- the stuff's going to get so complicated that Joe Average isn't going to be able to make the modifications he wants, so he'll go to the neighborhood expert...and in exchange for some work, the expert gets some extra cash, food, beer, sex, or whatever.
You know what, Sony? Bring that shit on. There's a hot lesbian couple down the block that I'd love to get between. Heh.
blog |
This would mean the system would need to be connected to the net. So I suppose they would refuse to play the media on a non-connected computer. Laptops and RiO-esque devices would be out the window. That's one reason I think this won't work. Also, aren't there laws against sending info back to home-base without user consent? Anybody who's tried it in the past has been severely criticized. I think this is simply Sony testing th waters...
Legal viruses from Sony, just like from MS. So, if someone cracked the script and made a trojan/phage so that every time someone in the world sends an e-mail, Sony would get their "someone is copying" message, or better yet, what about a "someone is copying" message generator running continually on random proxies...? Geeze, that would be verrrrry illegal, wouldn't it? That's a no no. No one should even THINK of that. Shame... shame!!!
Rien n'est plus beau que le creux du 0.
not only are they watching me... they are stealing my bandwidth... please pause for the two minutes hate...
The PS2 has the ultimate controller. If they change it for the PS3 I will be very disappointed in them. The XBox has a crap controller, just as bloated, badly laid out, and hard to use intuitively as the Gamecube controller.
The primary difference between a PlayStation analog controller and a GameCube controller is the GameCube lacks L1, L3, R3, and Select buttons, and the left pad and stick are swapped. Big whoop. There is even a $10 adapter to let you plug PS2 pads into a GameCube.
I agree that the original XBox controller was unwieldy, but Microsoft fixed that with the Controller-S; now it feels more like a normal controller.
Will I retire or break 10K?
With all of the assaults on music and such.... it seems like now is the time to scoop up some nice used analog gear. You have your reel to reel tape, audio cassette, etc.
Ultimately, the sound still has to become analog before you can hear it. (This may change in the future I'm sure) IT may not be ideal but at least I will have my music without some company breathing down my neck.
Application Access Control Lists are what you need.
To prevent application from accessing things you don't want them to an kernel level not user space level.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
This reminds me how as a kid I could always tell which countries were communist or not. They always had "Democratic" or "People's Republic" in their name, when the truth was the exact opposite. And of course, let's not forget the Open Group in the Unix world, which was anything but.
If thou see a fair woman pay court to her, for thus thou wilt obtain love
I run both and things that get by zonealarm don't get by sygate. Although running windows and trying to be secure is like leaving your laptop in an unlocked car. Unwise.
I've tried playing Madden online on the PC. Half the guys just go sit in some darkened, protected corner of the field and then jump out and make the tackle as I run past. The other half have hacks, like the guy I played last night who turned all of my players into Ryan Leaf. Forget it.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
Companies come out with competing DRM technologies. The industry will become clogged with this stuff, because they all think they're going to get rich if they make _their_ DRM the industry standard.
Meanwhile, as DRM-enabled hardware starts making its way onto the market, consumers become aware of what's going on. News.com, NYT, WSJ, all the major media outlets start talking about how these new technology devices won't let you do things your old ones did. We're not just talking about PCs anymore, but DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, televisions, everything.
Consumers say, "Screw that, I don't want disabled junk." A year or two passes, the market for DRM-enabled technology is totally saturated, and nobody's buying. People hold on to their old stuff. Sales plummet. Whoops.
Meanwhile, pirates continue to find ways to circumvent copyrights. Sales keep dropping. The Supreme Court eventually shoots down key parts of the DMCA--and the DMCA is so screwy, this isn't a matter of if, but when--and suddenly we're allowed to _legally_ circumvent copyrights. Bye-bye DRM.
Honestly, I don't think this sort of technology has any chance for long-term survival. All the advertising might and political influence in the world cannot defeat a marketplace full of frustrated consumers.
By ``end of the service'' here, they clearly mean ``the moment that just one of the multitude of clued-up and highly motivated hackers out there cracks the protection and puts an unecrypted copy on a P2P network''.
Ah, you gotta hand it to Sony. They have learned the lesson well: that you can always solve IPR problems with technology.
Next week: Sony Announce New Initiative To Improve Morality By Legislation.
The week after: Sony Announce New Initiative To End World Hunger By Telling People To Be Nicer.
These are all great ideas.
--
What short sigs we have -
One hundred and twenty chars!
Too short for haiku.
...to prevent unauthorized inbound/outbound connections, can I sue them for circumventing my security system?
Man, I've been avoiding sony since they came out with those little mp3 players for $400 that only held one cd worth of songs. And didn't support anything except win98. And it was buggy anyway. That was just the beginning. Then they got all stupid about their intellectual property and their record label is paranoid. And you can't install any operating system besides the one it comes with on their computers. And my friend had a car stereo of theirs and the volume broke. Ok, 2 friends.
Yeah, I don't trust Sony. Pretty soon they'll be putting chips in their TV's to see if you're taping a music video and recording the music from it. Because that's a loss for them.
What I wanna know is how many lexus' and mercedes' they have in their garages of their multimillion dollar houses. One for each day of the week. Except Monday, they need a new one for that day. That's why this is such a big deal.
If a and b in c, and a can create b, and a can create a, and b can create b, and b cannot create a, then a created c.
The format that wouldn't die. Lets see we now have a DRM that phones home and tells how many times you used the media. I guess now each DVD/CD will carry the disclaimer, "This disk comes with XX authorized uses, additional uses cost $XX per use." I guess the RIAA/MPAA have come up with a new business model, the gift that keeps on costing.
Cartman: Okay, that's does it! Now listen! Why is it that everything today has involved things either going in or coming out of my ass?! [Farts. An anal probe comes out of his butt and expands] I'm sick of it! It's completely immature.
Stan: Hey, it's happening again. [the probe is now a large satellite dish]
Kyle: Whoa, look at that.
Stan: Now, do you believe this, Cartman?
Cartman: You guys can't scare me! I know you're making it all up.
Stan: Cartman, there's a 80-foot satellite dish sticking out of your ass!
Cartman: Sure, you guys, what-ever. [the dish sends a radio signal out to space]
Wired has an article from Feb 1999 about this.
Oh shit - now the whole world will find out that I spend 8 hours every night playing "Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen Magical Mystery Mall" on my playstation! Arrgghhh!!!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
So now Sony can "legally" spy on who the like hiding beind an EULA of sorts (I'm assuming) under the guide - its the ditributors property and can therefore be tracked and controlled. Hmmm. Last I knew my personal information, consumption rates, usage, and date belonged to me. Since someones collecting MY information, do I get free access to all of THEIR systems to see what they are doing with MY personal information? I think I'll go get a copyright and patent on my personal info then sue the MPAA or Sony for unfair use, collection and distribution. Wonder what kind of royalties I can charge?
Write a program to intercept connections and implement an application-level net access policy. Konqeuror can connect to HTTP/HTTPS ports everywhere. Maybe wget and curl too. Nobody else can, unless you authorize it.
That should be a big fuck-you to whatever DRM schemes there are that rely on the network connection.
To band together and teach a multi-national corporation that they are not gods.
/. readers could boycott until we're red in the face, and Sony'd never feel the difference
Sony products will continue to sell to everyone who doesn't know just what this is, and how it's leading to potentially very-bad-things(tm)
We
We could DDoS them, but we'd bring ourselves below their level to do that, and they'd never care.
Now is the time to get active in your community, including, but not limited to: Telling those who will listen about what DRM is, and how it will affect us; Offering non-Sony non-DRM components at a lower cost (for retailers); Standing inside/outside a store/reseller that pushes/sells Sony products with flyers, a good positive attitude, and the willingness to educate and not attack.
to cause a change, we must be active, willing, and open... I hope we can be.
And if not, let's start flooding their servers with bunk data in a BAD way. It'd fun while it lasted, but wouldn't accomplish much.
- Jones
I assert that my comment is only my opinion, not that of any employer, past, present or future.
Don't say that too loud, else before you know it they'll eliminate the speakers. First step will be to only send digital [encoded of course] data to the 'speakers', then after that they'll come up with some wacked speaker design which builds the decoding circuits right in on the speaker cone... then after that they'll go away from speakers and simply transmit to your brain.
Surprise, you've already sent money towards this very kind of stuff.
History has already shown that consumers are typically clueless and have already bought into this stuff. Just gimme my DVD's right? Region codes? What's that? Macrovision? Oh well.
If people accepted that, they'll accept DRM.
I recently purchased a Sony cdrw drive from the friendly neighborhood computer super store. (I got a giftcard for my birthday.) I forget the exact model number, but it's the 32x predecessor for their current 40x 195A. I didn't do my research. I bought a drive unsupported by Click 'n Burn, Easy CD Creator, and Nero. As I share a machine with my wife, that other OS gets a partition. Therefore, I need hardware supported by software that I ALREADY OWN. Sony's current retail models come with something called B's Recorder Gold. Worst burning package ever. And it's a demo. If you want the real thing, Sony wants another $40 US. I took my beloved new burner back and swapped it for a no-name-brand model that works just fine - Linux or DOS. Thanks, Sony. I used to swear by your component audio equipment. Not anymore. Ever. Keep screwing us with your half-assed copy protection schemes, and watch me walk away from the rest of your catalog, too.
pathetic. I go into the recording studio and record a 14 song demo with a band. Have my laptop (a Vaio) in the car and copy the master of the first mix to my harddrive using the preinstalled Sonic Stage. When I get home, I burn a new copy to play on the stereo. This is a "rough draft" of the recordig so I don't mind that it's been compressed. Later, I go to burn a copy for my friend and am told by the Vaio that I cannot burn a fucking copy of my own goddamned music because I don't have rights to make more than one copy. This sucks!!!!!!!
Anything you say will be held against you.
As a user of minidisc tech, to me this is just another in a long line of crummy decisions on Sony's part when it comes to music technology. MD as a whole is a great system (just my opinion here), but it's sorely lacking in one major department -- UPLOADING. A sizable segment of the MD community uses their portable recorders to tape concerts, meetings, nature sounds, whatever. There's currently no way to get the files off the unit and onto the PC digitally, you have to hook up with an analog cable to do it.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
If you'd like to contact Sony Japan, this form appears to be a good place to start.
Remember - be polite and direct in telling them that you will not support technology that negates the rights of the customer.
So using legislation created by the industry, they are hiding behind said DMCA in order to do what would otherwise be illeagal. I am sorry but writing a program that sits on a persons machine for the purposes of sending them information constitues hacking does it not? So we are letting a Japanese imperialist say to hell with your constitution! No! I say NO! it is time for the Revolution to begin! We cannot out vote them We cannot out spend them We CAN bankrupt them Consumer disobediance time, we should implement boycotts and other strategy such as set automated copies to disrupt thier systems. I am tired of Corporate Imperialism runnign rampant Viva La Revolucion! Che
-For it is the very essence of imperialism to turn information systems into wild, bloodthirsty animals-
Sure, it's nice to hop on the Evil Companies bandwagon, but really.... why should everything be free? What if you ran a company? Would you give your product away? If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do like it, buy it. Don't like asparagus? Don't buy it. Do like grapes? Buy them, don't shoplift them.
As for privacy, so what? What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you? Are they going to take out a full-page ad in the NY Times, proclaiming that Joe-LOTR-Geek-Smith listens to Neil Diamond 10 times a day?
I don't like this either, but how about a reality check every now and then?
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
You might think that Hitler, who got elected with the financial support of big business (while in the US, Henry Ford was a major fan too), wouldn't have resorted to intellectual property to meet his need to acquire vast wealth. Not only did he earn millions in royalties from Mein Kampf, but he got a share in the proceeds from sales of photos of him by his official photographer, on whose behalf he extended the copyright law, showing that there's more than one mousey little guy with an appreciation of the value of his image!
Perhaps if Sony technology had been in place, he would have gained enough through IP control to have been satiated, and not forced take extreme measures to try to make the world a better place through his policy of regime change in neighboring lands.
___
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
Stay Offline?
I've already developed a front-end loader that loads at boot and filters outgoing OpenMG X traffic.
*door bursts open*
You can't do this! I have riiiiiiigggghhhhhhh....
What about all of us in slashdot runs a simple perl script that generate a 'illegal copying' packet in background? Voila, distributed computing.
I think that this will then be a good case study for all those postgraduate fellows studying (the culture|distributed computing|ddos).. heh.
my 2 cents =)
You are right; people here are missing the real point, and that is that
companies protecting their IP using technology is good
companies protecting their IP using government (regulations, legislation, litigation) is badCompanies/people oughta be free to protect their stuff however they like, so long as we're all free to try to circumvent it however we like.
-- LMy open letter to Sony:
*
Regarding the DRM technology that Sony plans to implement, I was just wondering if I'm going to be reimbursed for the bandwith it will use to send out this information? I'm paying monthly for the Internet for my own personal use, not so companies can track me and use it themselves. If I paid for the computer, the music, and the Internet connection, why do you guys get to use it for free? That's not fair. And don't tell me that the data is so small that it's an "insignificant amount." That's like saying, "steaing pennies from millions of people's bank accounts isn't wrong because it's just pennies."
But... oh well. I'm sure this message, if read at all, will be read by some intern who will just trash it because they're only interning for you to get in good with the company or the label and bringing important matters to someone's attention like this is NOT going to win them brownie points. My apologies for wasting both of our time.
*
This implies that they have been capable of putting out better trash than they have now (probably true, most films aren't worth $7 per person right now) but that somehow, adding DRM to boxes will magically make movies better.
HA!
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Comment removed based on user account deletion
IANAL, I'm not even american, but don't you guys have something in your constitution saying poeple (like your wife) don't have to testify against you because you are close/married? couldn't it be argued that something you bought, own and use every day is equally as close to you and thus can't legally testify (or in this case snitch) on you?
Plus there's alot of small(er) companies that Sony owns as well. Does anyone have a link to a list of all the "wholly-owned subsidiaries" of Sony? I already tried a google search, but all I came up with was single companies that were owned by Sony. This sort of stuff could just trickle down to them too.
Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
To me this looks less and less like a way for Copyright holders to protect their investment and more and more like a way to gather even more info on us so they can "improve" how they sell goods. I keep a firewall not so much to keep others out, but to control what info on me goes out.
Like MS's Passport, just because they say their only doing X, if your not allowed to check (DMCA) how can you tell what they are doing.
It doesnt matter what any large company does these days... someone will find a way to circumvent it. Many different technologies come to mind... I remember one which cost the developer a ton of money to create... and then an 8 line perl script to defeat.
whatever.
Really, isn't the easiest way going to involve capturing the stream and saving it as a non-proprietary format on a CD or whatever? How long until someone comes out with a version of streamripper for this device? Long time, I'm sure. Not.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
Read 1984 and stop writing so much nonsense.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
In time they will have total control of all content, since any non digital content/hardware is going to be banned from prodution..
We will get to listen/read/watch only what they want us to.. only for as long as they want.. lets hear it for free speech.. " sorry sir, your license to read the constitution has expired "
Sure i got an old analog tape deck, and non DRMized cdR.. but they gotta break someday..
Grr
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Minor nitpick: you don't circumvent copyrights, you circumvent encryption schemes to access copyrighted material. That is the DMCA.
They think they can use DRM soft/hardware to protect various forms of media from being copied...
/.'ed by the next morning.
In doing so, they are pitting their limited resources against the collective sex-drive of every script kiddy who ever ripped a pr0n DVD.
When and if this ever gets released, expect a workaround to be
There is no mod option "-1: Disagree" for a reason. "Overrated" is not an acceptable substitute. Post something instead.
You could block this with a firewall, but then Sony could counter-attack by hiding the signal on the back of something else.. On the whole these companies are only telling us what they're doing in the small print which no-one reads. Most people I know haven't a clue about DRM or whats going on with it. Its (usually) perfectly legal to do what they are doing, and illigal to by-pass it. More of the general population needs to be aware of whats really going on, and that the corporations are shafting them behind their backs. Posting on /. is preaching to the converted. The internet is supposed to be the big medium for mass communication to enlighten the masses, but everyone is still in the dark..
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Is anyone actually buying it? Has it been defeated yet? Though that might require substantial modification to the hardware involved....
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
It's fairly obivous that the major labels don't care at all about classical music because it brings in so little $$; this has disadvantages(hard-to-find recordings, artists) and advantages(lower CD prices). Does anyone think there is a chance(God, I hope so) that they will not DRM-ize classical or other non-mainstream CD's, if they think it's not worth the extra cost?
They could have relased it as MG and then we'de really be done for... (hope you know I'm just kidding eh)
No, the first version will not do this. What they will do, is leave a huge security hole and some big bugs. Then when you download the update, you will have to agree to being spyed on or have every script kiddie break into your device.
Fight Spammers!
Too bad there's not a score of "-1, Pipe Dream". The courts have already developed all the arguments necessary to keep the DMCA alive and well and safe in the face of challenge.
NO court has had any problem with any part of the DMCA. It isn't going anywhere. The Supreme Court's take on it will most likely be to refuse to accept cases. If they ever do accept a case, it will to be to ratify our doom.
Or, to put it in simpler terms, "We're fucked".
Almost. The problem is: if you are not using the MAGIQLIP software, then you will not be able to listen to the music at all.
Well, you will probably be missing the music. All this DRM stuff only makes sense if the the content is distributed is some encrypted format, in order to ensure that it is only possible to play it with software or devices that are DRM-enabled. Although I haven't seen it, I assume that this MAGIQLIP software is designed to play some files that have been encrypted, and the decryption key is only available if the player can validate your credentials by contacting Sony's server.
So if you do not use their software or if the software cannot communicate with Sony's server (e.g., because you are not connected to the Internet or because you are using a firewall), then you cannot listen to the music.
-Raphaël
Ok geeks, here's the deal.
You can deal with this by moaning online, or you can organize a grassroots effort to let the media companies know that you simply will not tolerate this. That means you simply do not buy their "stuff" on the general principle that they are pissing you off.
No CDs, no movies, no DVDs, nothing. If everyone gets involved, they'll get the concept that the consumers are tired of their nonsense and indeed are not the sheep they are purported to be.
Record music/video onto analog media. (ok , games could be a problem here) ;)
Eu4ria
Oh I dont know my ZX Specturm used to load games from cassette tape as did the Commodore 64. Although I am not sure how many tapes would be needed for something like Neverwinter Nights
yeppers, all the corporates want to know what pr0n you been watching, what mp3s you listen to, know when you pick your nose, when you scratch your ass, when you go potty, when you have sex, when you eat, when you sleep, how much money is in your bank accounts...
why don't these nosey corporates just stick a fscking camera in every room in my house!?!?!?!
Somebody's already working on this one - if you use Linux, BSD, or OSX.
Check out the Open/NMD project(and support it).
http://opennmd.monochromatic.net/
that's the funniest thing i've read all day, thanks. :)
Then somebody makes a hack, which disables the call-home or spyware features... and all of /. users rejoice once again.
Isn't it time for a real study on the effect of 'piracy'? I have yet to see one which takes into account age/available spending money [people still only buy what they can afford...piracy most often probably represents stuff which wouldn't be bought anyway] to get at a more realistic number for the reported loss.
And maybe add in some adjustment for the fact that if someone uses a pirated, highpriced piece of software, he/she will also want to use it in the workplace.
I wouldn't be surprised if when these and other factors are adjusted for, piracy turns out to be a lot less costly. And probably less than the development and implementation of DRM in the first place...
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
Wouldn't this be illegal in itself. Since it is compromising other software in your computer, which is more or less virus-like behavior (and of course, virus writing is illegal, unless it's a Microsoft OS)
What I think is really great about all this is I don't know ANYONE at all who uses MagicGate, or the weird software that comes on VAIOS, or any of that sony memory-stick protection crap. If they have a need they usually just buy a normal memory stick and get on with it, not a Magic Gate one.
Its funny how sony keeps pushing these products that nobody at all uses.
...if they think that this is something to be proud of. If I was Sony, I'd actually be embarrassed to publicly admit to having this technology let alone bringing it to market. They should just sell more TV/VCR/DVD/etc and STFU..
pi=sigma{n:0-infinity}[(1/16)^n][(4/(8n+1))-(2/(8n +4))-(1/ (8n+5))-(1/(8n+6))]
DivX ;-] or whatever stupid name those leet hax0rz gave that codec isn't the same thing as "Divx", the crappy DVD player.
...and then I'm going to run a script that plays 'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mixalot 50,000 times a day and let it report away.
This is going to be fun!
Dirk
DRM is good for those who want to maintain the conglomerate model of audio/video distribution. What I have not seen is anyone who addresses the non-DRM side in parallel. If all machines are configured to play 'DRM-only'.. what will happen to the public domain and free audio/video? The end user wants a simple and easy experience... not a headache when they cannot get what they want.
(1st sig) If this were a snappy sig, you'd be reading it right now. (2nd sig) I'm a karma whore. >Insert FUD here
Don't forget, they'll also have a webcam pointed at your backside and broadcast those pictures all over the internet. Have a nice day. ;-)
Isn't it time to ban companies to be equipment manufacturers and content providers at the same time?
Can you imagine, MS going into music, movie industries?
That is the problem of the "Analog Hole", which we at Sony are creating a brain implant to plug.
And with her brand new spyware she will know who is
going to trespass her IP, and to sue them to death...
A data mining company will probably buy it.
Maybe you'll get lucky and your employer will buy this info from the data mining company. I can see the headlines now: "Man gets sued for sexual harrasment in the workplace because he viewed a video at home"
This is not a good thing. What if employers use this info to screen potential employees?
Cryptography is not designed for this sort of thing.
It is designed to let two trusted parties communicate w/o a third either snarfing data or pretending to be one of the trusted parties.
The problem is, both ends are not trusted in ANY DRM scheme, which is what makes DRM a pipe dream.
Yeah!!!
Just like what happened to Macrovision!!!
Oh, wait...
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
as next week Sony will be happy to announce that all their products will start to ship with handy built in Ericsson mobile phone. This new "consumer" feature will allow consumers to remotely locate the exact whereabouts of their CD player, television, PS2 etc, just in case they get stolen..... Thanks Sony how thoughtful of you :-)
http://www.sonyericsson.com/
The only time it is reasonable for a company to know when I am playing a game/video/something manufactured by them is if they can add something meaningful to my experience.
Look at what Blizzard has done -- you buy a full version of their latest game, and with the key that you get, you can play on battle.net. I consider this to be a worthwhile exchange, because after all I am getting something new from them every time I play their games -- the services of their network.
However, if I were to tell Sony "I just played your stupid game by my lonesome self and you didn't give me anything, but I thought I'd just let you know", I would feel quite stupid.
If I had to buy a dvd for $20 and then watch it and then get charged more, that would be truly sucky.
I hope that the direction that all of this DRM stuff is headed is you get chaged maybe $3 or $4 to watch any movie ever made at any time you want in the comfort of your own home (with discounts for repeat watchings, etc). That is clearly worth the money to me.
Ramble...
-S
The US, and all of the world making such "Free Market" claims, haven't been so for many years now.
Get over it already.
Very sadly, it's this kind of contract of adhesion that makes some people think this sort of software has a place in a democratic society. After all, you have the right to not agree to Sony's terms, and are "free" to just walk away, as you have. "Take it or leave it". When one side has all the power, it's called a contract of adhesion.
I wonder if courts will still uphold contracts of adhesion when they start printing EULA's on fruit (not the computer kind).
because the EU, GB, and Australia are all gonna honor the DMCA in accordance with international treaty. If you happen to live in a country with cojones, I'm jealous, I wish I did too, but for the rest of us, violating this law ensures you'll be looking over your shoulder for a long time or not traveling :(
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
They make some nice products, PS2, mp3 players, and some other stuff and do some ok things like put together a linux kit for the PS2, which saved me the trouble, but then they do stuff like this.
I just don't get what they're up to.
Capitalism: unequal distribution of wealth
Socialism: equal distribution of poverty
You're talking about the company that used an authentication chip to control who could make games for the NES, and then sued Tengen when they reverse engineered it to make their own games.
Nintendo would very much like a return to those days of dominance.
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
Console able to play DVDs, Sony Good;
/has/ done is in relationship to their Console biz (big whoop) and has otherwise continually screwed people over in standard big business fashion?
Introduces memory stick format with content control, Sony Bad;
Releases some developers manuals and a Linux Dev kit for their Console, Sony Good;
Rolls out Spyware/DRM system, Sony Bad;
I'm confused!
Oh wait, I am a Nintendo Guy anyway, PSX1/2 suck, buy Nintendo bizzzzzotch!
Yah, err, uh. So basically what little good Sony
Nice to know we have that all straightened out.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Lovely Crap ! Buy my delicious CRAP !
"I like Sony because my mobile phone now
has a vibrator on a cord which I can leave
all day up my ass !!!"
"It even sends 20000 volts if I download
mp3 songs with no DRM intalled !"
I need someone to stop me from illegally copying all this stuff! ;)
Now Sony televisions are outclassed by practically every mainstream manufacturer imho.
Sony used to make the best sounding cassette walkmans. Not any more. Now their minidisc players suck for sound quality compared to Panasonic, Sharp etc. Just read the reviews.
Sony music, and indeed "Sony's music" suck. Full stop.
I will quite happily steal certain software packages given the opportunity (eg Windows, If I ever needed to run a Windows app), since I don't believe it's stealing.
Now if somebody offered me a free bit of Sony hardware, stolen straight from the factory, I wouldn't regard that as stealing either. I can see Sony throwing unsold minidisc-walkmans into the landfill in an attempt to purposefully inlate the street price.
Would you put it past them? Don't forget that even Apple is guilty of that crime.
Contact Sony and notify them of your intentions to boycot their shi^H^H^H products.
http://www.sonymusic.net/sony/feedback.cgi
And then _do_ it.
Right after "fiendish plan" please insert the following:
"and shows you the self-destruct mechanism"
I take drugs seriously.
the sad thing abou this is, that most (75%+) people are not even going to KNOW about this, if the mainstream media doesnt punch it into their brains 12 hours a day and makes it sound dramatic. so, we, the slashdot readers, maybe ARE going to boycott sony's DRM (i already boycott sony and audio cds..) but the general public will go on as they used to. i believe sony will actually get thru with this and ill just get mader at sony. too bad the world doesnt consist of slashdot readers ;)
From the article: consumers will enjoy more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market. I think it means that they will be able to tell what people really like and make more of the same. Which means that those of us that don't match middle-america tastes are fucked.
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
they could not tell us.
The dream reveals the reality which conception lags behind. That is the horror of life- the terror of art. -Franz Kafka
DON'T BUY ANYTHING PROTECTED BY SONY'S DRM TECHNOLOGY.
It's so easy, if you don't want it, don't pay for it. Go rant about how you have the right to privacy, but you have no constitutionally protected right to rent movies or buy music. And I don't see how you have any right to tell someone else how to do business.
A: None. The Universe spins the bulb, and the Zen master merely stays out of the way.
don't forget boycottriaa.org.
...a DFM (Digital Financial Management) spyware that that reports from Sony to its customers where and how it delegates the money they collect from sales.
They want to know where their money goes; fair enough, I want to know where my money goes too.
Hmmm, some shady accounting tricks here. Hmmm, extravagant expenses at the **AA meetings. Hmmm, campaign contributions to politicians. Hmmm, large payouts to federal lobbyists. Hmmm, who is "our man Kaplan"?
It hurts to wear that shoe, doesn't it?
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
When the day comes that PC have been legislated into personal home surveillance devices will be the day I give up computers and the internet entirely. The only reason this crap is happening at all is because so many people just don't care, even if they are aware of the issues.
I believe that the internet/PC that M$, the RIAA, and all the other special interests really want to create is just like the Chinese Internet or any fundamentalist state. (Where did they get the technology to build those systems, hmm?)
The PC is convenient and adds tremendously to the quality of my home life.
These DRM laws and totalitarian control measures are going to destroy that.
The solutions to this are available and practical, but can only work with large-scale participation.
Boycott companies that employ these technologies and tell them so.
Register and vote
Write to your representative/senator and give him/her money!
Inform anyone who will listen about the threat that these technologies are to them
Found local clubs, raise money, and broadcast the message to the masses
Stage demonstrations and be loud in denouncing these technologies (a million geek march on Washington? I'll see ya there!)
Teach your no-so-internet-savy friends about security, privacy, and how to safeguard themselves.
The cattle need to be motivated - to stampede away from the slaughterhouse!!
I don't know about you, but I find cracking a lamebrained scheme highly entertaining. Don't you guys like a good puzzle? Considering that copy protected CDs hit the internet BEFORE the store shelves, I assume I'm not the only one who enjoys this pastime.
As to the MORE EXCITING, well, the DMCA took care of that... what's more exciting than committing a felony that can put you in jail for 5 years? Especially a felony that hurts no one and shouldn't even be a misdemeanor?
See, it has nothing to do with Britany! In fact, most Britany records are purchased only to crack and post, nobody actually LISTENS to them.
-steve
springfield fragfest
Sony has proven themselves time and time again deserving of a permanent boycott, but no matter how much I tell my friends to avoid Sony, they still end up drooling over whatever cool shit Sony puts out (Clie, Vaio, PS2).
Even ignoring the political issues of a boycott, their products are just not worth buying. They have good design (cool cases and good UIs), and their CRTs do look good, but their quality has gone downhill in the last 20 yrs (ask a TV repair shop if you don't believe me). It breaks just as often as the cheaper stuff, and sometimes more often (ask a Vaio laptop owner).
Meanwhile, pirates continue to find ways to circumvent copyrights. Sales keep dropping. The Supreme Court eventually shoots down key parts of the DMCA--and the DMCA is so screwy, this isn't a matter of if, but when--and suddenly we're allowed to _legally_ circumvent copyrights. DMCA was invented by guys in black trench coats, black hats, with hairy faces. They couldn't fight hackers, so they bought legislation. Any corporations knows this--
1) Buy the Sony game with included spyware.
2) Write a script to attempt to copy it once a minute. (DO NOT test it unless physically unplugged from the internet.)
3) Hack the MPAA, RIAA, etc., servers and upload the game and the script. (You may have to ask your fellow hackers to please stop DOS'ing them for a while, but as clueless as these people seem to be, breaking in ought to be easy.)
4) Wait for Sony to look at the logs and send out their teams of trained attack lawyers...
Disclaimer: This is a joke. I'm not advocating anyone do anything illegal like breaking into evil organizationss' computers and illegally copying software there-to. Really I'm not. Really...
Its an application with just one huge button saying 'press here' and when you press it your computer sets fire. Genious. No more viruses. No wonder we all love connie so much...
Since when is content a fucking service? Content is a product. It may be a low-brow product (like anything on FOX or toilet bowl cleaner) or a high-brow product (like jewelery) but it is still a product. I can hug it and cuddle it or stomp it into the dirt if I want to. Now, if it was a service, things would be different. I don't encourage you to hug or cuddle or stomp on your maid. But it's not. Its a product, and once I've forked over the $50 or whatever it costs its mine.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
I can't wait for the Linux kernel module that listens for this things traffic, DNATs the connection to itself, forges the correct "you can view" responses and then SNATs back a response... Once the DRM software is reverse engineered, the nat module (or DRM proxy, if you will) should be a very quick hack.
"What if Sony finds out that you listen to Neil Diamond's greatest hits 10 times a day? What are they going to do, haul you into a dungeon and torture you?"
No. They are going to torture me in situ. Saves on the transport costs.
The are going to fricking SPAM the crap out of me every time a new album by an artist for who I own one disc comes out, and then once a week after that for the rest of my fricking life, until they see I've bought the damned thing by way of my player reporting the fact to them.
This will happen, even if the original disc was a present, and I played it *one time*, just to be polite.
If I play something multiple times, then every time before the player is willing to play the disc I already own, it's going to play a K-TEL commercial for the new disc or "if you like Bob Marley, you'll LOVE Jimmy Cliff!" or *whatever*.
Every time I pick up my Sony cordless phone, it's going to complain that I haven't called my mother in a while, would I please press "*" now, so that they can connect me "using their honorable partner MCI's new, cheaper long distance service". Only after three repetitions of this will I get a dialtone and be able to use my phone to call who I wanted to call in the first place.
If I don't buy anything from them in a while, they'll mark me "inactive" in their database, which means that I'm not making them money, so they will feel free to capitalize on the information by selling it; after all, if I'm not "loyal" to their brand, why shouldn't they turn the information they have into money some other way, since there's no risk of them offending me into not buyinf from them -- I'm already not buying from them?
The *ONLY* benefit to consumers in this case is that they *WON'T* SPAM me about things I already own.
Unless they are about to release a new album by an artist whose disc I haven't played in a while, in which case they'll remind me to play the thing to "prime the pump" so I'll be more likely to buy the new one.
Until they figure out how to convert everything to "pay per listen", at which point, they will SPAM me for *everything*, ALL THE FREAKING TIME, FOR THE REST OF MY SHORT, MISERABLE LIFE!
And as I lay DYING in my bathtub, the BLOOD running from my GINSU(tm)-KNIFE-SLITTED WRISTS,
finally escaping this horror... the Sony shower radio will come on and try to sell me MR. SPARKLE cleanser for my bathtub that is guaranteed to get out the blood stains I'm likely to leave.
AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
-- Terry
Dear Senator Hollings,
That statement is completely false (at least in Canada.) Copying something FOR someone else is illegal. Copying something for myself is not, in fact, I PAY a tax on blank media, regardless of it's eventual purpose, that goes to compensate the artists in the music industry for lost revenue from person copies. personal copies != stealing != piracy. Don't try to make people who excercise their legal rights feel like criminals! Why on earth do you need a system to report perfecly legal activities to the copyright holders who have already been compensated for the copying??
I don't believe in linking. :-)
Murphy was an optimist.
Only Ross Perot could fund such projects. Hay, I get it...
> Companies come out with competing DRM technologies. The industry will become clogged with this stuff, because they all think they're going to get rich if they make _their_ DRM the industry standard.
that's because they probably WILL.
> Consumers say, "Screw that, I don't want disabled junk."
Are not the type of consumers they are after, they more go after the same FAT LARD ASSSED MOTHERFUCKERS that can't survive 5 minutes withough going to McDonalds or BK, or more than likely BOTH. (sorry for the emphasis and stereotyping but, hey it helps and believe me i've met people liek that!)
The consumers (they want) don't know what they want they want what there told they want.
In essence we're all fucked and I persoannly blame americans, because thats all there usefull for.
+----------------- | What is the question!
" the only way to win is not to play at all!"
I'm glad Sonny is no longer part of my vocabulary or whatever...
Bye, bye Sunnay.
seriously, though.. about the "don't buy cd's" campaign.I think, musically speaking, we can divide the world into those who ocasionally listen to a tune, and buy 5 cd's a year, and the muzak fanatics who need their daily dose of (insert music style here).
now, in theory, if this boycott would spread and last, artists would get pissed of at record companies because sales drop to all-time lows, and start to do something, for their own good. also, the rec companies themselves will either change their wicked ways or crumble.
but then, think again. all those shiny great songs you find on your favourite napster ancestor have to be ripped from somewhere. most likely from a cd. that means, for music to spread in the net, someone has to buy cds. now if you like mainstream pop, your chances of finding songs you like are big, for there are probably gazillions of p2p users that have never heard about the crap the rec companies pull. but if you are into a bit more advanced music, then, bad luck. now the question is, how long can the true fans of audio live without new stuff? not very long, I guess.
in conclusion, buying less to no cds is a noble and good idea to at least show sony et al there is some resistance, but to archive something, we have to think of other ways.
now, honestly, what these ways are, I have no idea at the moment.
Karma
He then goes on at great length about how personal copies are perfectly legal and okay.
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Seriously, this link is more scary than funny, because it reflects how most consumers think concerning all that the media ogres are trying to accomplish.
The average Joe or Jane Somebody will shrug his/her shoulders, agree to whatever liberty-crushing licenses, and never really know that they signed away their rights and the rights of their grandchildren in order to play Resident Evil 32.
Spread the word, keep your friends and family from becoming digital serfs.
When faced with a problem, many web developers say "I know, I'll use JavaScript!".
Now they have two problems.
You're dealing with a trusted party.
Since "the consumer in general" isn't trusted, all DRM will eventually fail. PKI isn't a silver bullet, as a viewer of conent the only thing I need to be able to decrypt is the movie I want to watch. If I need Sony's private key for that then it's not a very "private" key is it?
Sure, Sony can put a unique private key in each player, but how well do you really think the private key inside that player can be protected? We've already established it can't be protected as software on a PC. The challenge of "key hidden in hardware" hasn't been pushed all the way yet, but early indications are this only makes it more difficult, not impossible.
It only takes one decryptor to "open" a whole lot of content, especially if content is simple. This is why the DRM initiatives are so Draconian and against allowing any "open" content at all. If your PC won't play any open content without major mods, they might keep many consumers out of the market for "open" goods. (look at game consoles for an example of this)
...and I vow: no Vaio either. (Sad -- I did like their size)
Sony is so arrogant it is sometimes even funny. I called their service line because the screen of my two year old, incredibly expensive Vaio notebook wasn't working anymore, obviously a hardware defect. I was connected with a service personal and asked how long the fixing would take, how much it would roughly cost and where to send this computer to.
I was told as my computer was two years old, any information they give to me will cost 20 Euros.
My answer was that first of all i think this is insane and secondly i do not have a credit card. I was told if i don't have a credit card then i should use somebody else's. I said this is impossible and was told that i would have to transfer the money to Sony in this case. After that (takes usually 2 to 3 days) he would be happy to answer my questions.
Remind you, the question was just how much a repair would cost and how long it would take.
When i tried to buy a notebook battery from them i was as well treated as if i had leprosy.
I feel ashamed i ever gave Sony any money.
Sony Corp is
a) Sony Music and
b) Sony Digital Entertainement
and therefore is the customer and the client of this fscking new technology sitting in the same house (ok let's say, the same bed). SM produces the Music which SDEs hardware should take care about the DRM, homecalling and so on... I do not wonder that they came along with this nasty little idea. Plain fact: The MiniDisc I bought last year was the last Sony item (I just stepped back from buying a new Clié, I will let them know) I bought for exactly as long as Sony respects the fair use of the music they distribute (produce is definitivly the wrong word here).
Sony, clean up you reputation...! So, is there any other close relationship out between the hardware guys and the marketing lobbyists like in the Sony HDQ?
Company X: We have designed the perfect solution to copyright infringement, our new technology is unbelievably advance....almost 3 years in the making. This time we're FOR REAL.
15 minutes later.....
Bored Teenager: Wow, so thats how they did it.
2 days later:
Bored Teenager: Uhh I found a security flaw in your new Super Duper Extra Secret Copy Protection
Company X: Shoot him, he's EVIL. Years of work and millions down the drain, kill him I say!!
Bored Teenager: Shit...I was only trying to help
BANG
BANG
BANG
Company X: HAHAHAHA lets see someone pull a stunt like that again.
Seriously, they waste more money trying to stop copying than they lose by allowing it to occur. Don't those fancy accountants they pay tell them that?
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article
Microsoft looks better compared to Sony.
Tat Tvam Asi
All DRM will do is make "average" Joe Consumer play by the media companies rules.
I'm becoming convinced that the MP/RIAA are not at all afraid of online file sharing and piracy. They are merely using it as a tool to get what they've always wanted all along: Control. Control over what people watch and listen to. Where they can do it and how much they pay for it. The percentage of the population that can bypass DRM tools is very small, so those few will give them the ammo they need to pass laws to control the rest.
Did anyone else notice that this thing is basically called OMG? ;)
Perhaps they anticipated our response to this mess...
-- This sig for rent.
Suppose a motherboard manufacturer quietly includes some whiz-bang DRM stuff, but leaves it disabled, or suppose a cpu manufacturer builds DRM right into their latest over-2GHz cpus, again leaving it disabled, and then one day a magic packet/program shows up that PERMANENTLY enables the DRM hardware...
Maybe we already have such stuff and don't know it... Maybe your brand new, sparkly DVD/CD-RW combo drive will suddenly refuse to copy cd's after you play a Celine or Britney cd that has the enabler builtin? Maybe your motherboard will conspire with your brand-name, closed-source OS to secretly deliver email regarding your DVD/CD usage?
So what if you firewall? I'd be surprised if the proprietary OS couldn't slip something past your in-system firewall below the packet level, and if you have a separate firewall, are you filtering outbound email for destination?
Heck, doesn't even need to be email, it could be encrypted form data going to a secure web server. Could even be a DNS lookup -
"nslookup us123abc45678.playing.celine.sony.com"
"nslookup us123abc45678.copying.metallica.drm.com"
Do you filter those? What other protocols do you pass? NTP to a time server? POP, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS? How about the various Instant Messengers?
What it comes down to is, they only have to be lucky once to catch you. You have to be lucky all the time...
This was the very problem with Digital Audio Tape (DAT). Before the RIAA allowed it to be released in the US, it had to have DRM. It would only let you make one copy of the original, no matter who owned the content. They (content companies, not some genric they out there) want control. Complete control.
I read the Sony announcement a couple times and I don't believe that what's stated there supports the contention of this item.
Sorry, but I just can't see anything indicating communication from the _user_ back to the content owner. Perhaps from the user's interaction with a server/distribution site. But that's all.
--
AstroSurf
It doesn't matter. If you are going to copy something for yourself or for someone else they can't tell. So instead assuming that you are innocent until proven guilty you ARE GUILTY.
Why would they need to put these "precautions" into place unless they believed that YOU are a criminal. In there eyes you WILL commit a crime, and they are going to throw out "fair use" to stop you.
'Education and religion are two things not regulated by supply and demand. The less of either the people have, the less they want.
- [Charlotte Observer, 1897]'
With this they are risking alienation of huge numbers of cutomers. I for one will never buy a CD or anything else that makes me send anything to the copyright holder. I buy something, I expect to be able to use it when ever and on what ever I like.
What about if you do not have a internet connection, or as is so comon here its down. Are you prevented from using something you have paid for?
As others have said, there is no hope of me letting this or anything else I do not wantthrough my firewall.
If this ask is not bad enough, bandwidth here (Australia) is very expensive, so in effect I would be paying sony for the media/product etc, then paying the ISP (from hell) I use again for the pleasure of using something I already own.
If the copyright holders want to reduce piracy they could start by dropping the prices.
I have a solution:
1) Copy the original *once*. Put the original back in its box. Never look at it again.
2) Massage the copy as needful until it behaves itself and stops crying to mama every time you look at it.
3) View this final copy as often as you please.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Say this DRM bull gets put into everything new that comes out for us "consumers"...
Then, say in the interest of national security or whatnot, some security agency finds a way to do more with the DRM technology than just check if someone's pirating or not.
I have to wonder if the corps like Sony even realize what this sort of technology could be used for in the future, particularly stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with fighting alleged piracy.
You always have to ask, "What's next?" Unfortunately, not very many people seem to these days...
-- The silencing of the many will be golden to the few.
James Bond was the author of the book "Birds of the West Indies"
I guess that explains Goldeneye, doesn't it?
1: Record music/video onto analog media. (ok , games could be a problem here :) End. Problem solved. I really don't see why people get so uptight about these copy protection systems. Can't copy a track because of some block in the OS or player? Simple, tee off from the speaker cables into analogue record input connector of your choice. Its really quite simple.
My Soundblaster Audigy came with recorder software that lets you choose which input you want to record. One of the settings is "What you hear." It grabs the signal right off the card as it's going to the speakers (ala AudioGrabber). You can choose to record at 96K, 48K or 44.1K. I tried it today and there was no noticable loss of quality. A good solution for me if all else fails.
As an aside, I just reinstalled Win2K SP2 on one system today and then applied the SP3 patch. What should show up on my c: drive but a System folder called "DRM". I think I'll move it and see what program might bitch or recreate it.
The RIAA is starting from something that most people would agree is wrong, everyone listening to the work of an artist, but the artist getting zero compensation for it, and then blow it so far out of proportion and stretch it to cover so many things that no one would believe that one has anything to do with the other, except for the paid politicians of course.
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you need more equipment. i use a sony cd-r deck and a sony MD deck to get all digital copy of original MD recording from portable MD.
1. stick MD disc in MD deck (hooked to cd-r deck (sony rcd-w1) with optical cable) hit play
2.hit record on cd-r deck (this method even preserves track marks, up to first 99)
3.stick cd-r (actually i use same cd-rw over and over) in computer, use I-tunes to rip to hard drive, do with what you please.
yes it sucks that this is the only way to do it with track marks (also from a MD deck to an audio card with optical in, but no track marks), but the equipment comes in handy for other stuff, and as long as they keep forcing me to buy hardware because i steal software, welll, i'm going to keep stealing software. actually, i'm going to keep stealing software no matter what.
My Soundblaster Audigy came with recorder software that lets you choose which input you want to record.
Which program is that? (It'll save me some time in looking.) I got the Audigy Platnium and the damn thing comes with 3 or 4 CDs... I haven't even installed everything that came on the 1st CD yet...
AAAAARGH !!!!!
All these discussions, these billions of messages on the net, all magazines, TV stories, radio news, all about greedy BASTARDS from filthy rich world-eating companies, trying to look "good-purposed" and "concerned with bad people". DAMN!
Don't the STUPID people around this rotten world see these are COMMERCIAL COMPANIES, they exist for one and only purpose: to MAKE MONEY. That's the very REASON they are OPEN, otherwise they would NOT be commercial companies! All they are supposed to do is satisfy their owners/shareholder's GREED and desire! ARGH!
They say they are protecting copyright for the legitimate right owners, that they are good people, but the moment the artists say, as a simple EXAMPLE, try to get something for free or beat someone up because they are standing up for their threatened girlfriend in a bar fight, the companies completely turn their backs on them!
There is no such thing as good-intentioned companies. It is all about profit. It will always be like that, so never mind new digital copyright techniques, we only get what we accept. You do NOT have to live as a money feed for the companies.
And I tell you all, the day this "war" gets too nasty, and the companies try to FORCE their methods and schemes down everyone's throats, there WILL be war all over the planet. Real war. People are instinctively FREE!
gamekill