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."
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.
Pot, Kettle, Black
by
JohnPM
·
· 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.
I think it's time to buy a Gamecube
by
floppy+ears
·
· 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
13Echo
·
· 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.
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
I think in this context, they mean "open" like the back of a hospital gown, and the consumer is the person wearing the gown.
~Philly
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:HERE is a good use for a firewall.
by
Lord_Slepnir
·
· 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.
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.
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.
-- The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
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.
Re:So what happens if...
by
Tenebrious1
·
· 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.
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.
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]
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)
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.
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!
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
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...
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?
Slashdot Mirror
What company needs to know that...
DVD - Naughty Coed Cheerleaders in Heat IV
Viewed 23,433 times
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.
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."
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
I think in this context, they mean "open" like the back of a hospital gown, and the consumer is the person wearing the gown.
~Philly
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.
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.
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
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.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
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.
So what happens if... I try to copy it 1,000,000 times?
/., 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...
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
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
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.
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]
sin(6cos(r)+5A)
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.
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!
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
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
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?
yes, i probably am nitpicking. but....