Posted by
timothy
on from the don't-miss-an-episode-of-%83hd1nzz dept.
karrde writes "CNet (and others) is reporting that: 'Microsoft has bowed to consumer pressure and pulled back from a controversial plan that would have encrypted TV shows recorded on forthcoming digital media PCs.' One could hope that this will be the first many decisions in this direction."
The Media Center software has been changed so that now the copyright owner, not Microsoft, gets to decide whether a particular TV program will be "encrypted to the hard drive"--meaning, "unable to be viewed on a different PC or DVD player."
THIS IS DONE by making the Media Center software cognizant of a television standard called Copy Generation Management System for Analog (CGMS-A). If a couple of bits in a program's CGMS-A settings are switched on, Media Center PCs will encrypt the program, making it unplayable on anything but the recording PC. Leave them unflipped, and the program remains copyable. Microsoft says its testing found no television programming with the encryption bits turned on.
MUstickD: From the same company...
by
rusty0101
·
· Score: 5, Informative
...which is loudly proclaming the death of TiVo, claiming setup is too hard.... Go to the bottom of the Slate page, and you will find:
For some reason I have the feeling that there is a bit of garbage floating around somewhere in one or both of these articles.
-Rusty
-- You never know...
Re:This can't be good.
by
Per+Wigren
·
· Score: 5, Informative
We're working on it! And it will be good! Just wait a few months until our upcoming features is in place! Development is going very fast right now!
-- My other account has a 3-digit UID.
Re:They're holding out
by
swb
·
· Score: 5, Informative
The RIAA has been rebuffing Microsoft's "secure digital media" initiatives for *years*. They know what Microsoft does to its business "partners" and it scares them, along with the wholly known stupidity of becoming reliant on one company that will supply the DRM system and then "manage it" to maximize their own business needs (more features to Windows, less to other players).
Microsoft is simply strong-arming them with this; the idea is to put Hollywood on notice that its Microsoft DRM or none at all. There is no *way* that BillG and STEVE! Ballmer would EVER allow Microsoft to become reliant on either an open standard they have to compete on and ESPECIALLY a proprietary system owned by someone else to do DRM for what many consider to be "the next killer app" for PCs.
They figure that if they make enough noise about unencrypted (copyable, sharable) video being available to consumers, Hollywood will run scared to MS begging to "partner" with MS on DRM, thus ensuring MS a place in their profit stream.
Any fantasies that this is about anything other than Microsoft locking itself into every consumer audio and video device made from now until 2030 they are fooling themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
Except someone CLAIMED to have cracked HDCP (the encryption you are speaking of) ages ago.
My only hope, is that this trend continues, and consumers realize they shouldn't have to compromise their convenience for Hollywood's sake.
From ZDNet: Why Microsoft caved in on copy protection:
The Media Center software has been changed so that now the copyright owner, not Microsoft, gets to decide whether a particular TV program will be "encrypted to the hard drive"--meaning, "unable to be viewed on a different PC or DVD player."
THIS IS DONE by making the Media Center software cognizant of a television standard called Copy Generation Management System for Analog (CGMS-A). If a couple of bits in a program's CGMS-A settings are switched on, Media Center PCs will encrypt the program, making it unplayable on anything but the recording PC. Leave them unflipped, and the program remains copyable. Microsoft says its testing found no television programming with the encryption bits turned on.
...which is loudly proclaming the death of TiVo, claiming setup is too hard.... Go to the bottom of the Slate page, and you will find:
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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For some reason I have the feeling that there is a bit of garbage floating around somewhere in one or both of these articles.
-Rusty
You never know...
We're working on it! And it will be good! Just wait a few months until our upcoming features is in place! Development is going very fast right now!
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
The RIAA has been rebuffing Microsoft's "secure digital media" initiatives for *years*. They know what Microsoft does to its business "partners" and it scares them, along with the wholly known stupidity of becoming reliant on one company that will supply the DRM system and then "manage it" to maximize their own business needs (more features to Windows, less to other players).
Microsoft is simply strong-arming them with this; the idea is to put Hollywood on notice that its Microsoft DRM or none at all. There is no *way* that BillG and STEVE! Ballmer would EVER allow Microsoft to become reliant on either an open standard they have to compete on and ESPECIALLY a proprietary system owned by someone else to do DRM for what many consider to be "the next killer app" for PCs.
They figure that if they make enough noise about unencrypted (copyable, sharable) video being available to consumers, Hollywood will run scared to MS begging to "partner" with MS on DRM, thus ensuring MS a place in their profit stream.
Any fantasies that this is about anything other than Microsoft locking itself into every consumer audio and video device made from now until 2030 they are fooling themselves.