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Will We Need A SmartCard to Watch Digital TV?
An anonymous reader writes "This story on EE Times points out that Hollywood and major electronics manufacturers are in agreement on a SmartCard requirement for digital video interconnectivity. Note that the article talks about them 'closing the analog hole.'"
Why not Credit Cards instead of Smart Cards. Oh maybe then its easier for Hackers to get the key without paying. Hm, sounds just like another great idea without any use.
I'm not profoundly religious or anything, but do I need to quote specific verses from Revelations before it's too late?
Or do I just go ahead and get my number and be quiet?
-------
Those who don't understand, will probably vote (-1, Offtopic)
I wonder if the satellite cracking guys might have a solution to this "speed bump" in, oh, about 45 seconds after release?
Sounds like these folks need to read Cringley's "Curtain Call" article and stop wasting so much effort on things that are doomed to fail.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Look how well it's worked with the direct broadcast satellite services, e.g., DirecTV. Half the users of those systems are using hacked hardware and not paying a cent, despite early trumpeting by the SmartCard vendor about how secure the system was.
They aren't coming anywhere near my girlfriends "analog hole".....
by a swarm of 10,000 locustserrrrr geeks.
My 35" TV is probably eight years old and ready to be replaced. Is now a good time to buy a new TV, or are there worthwhile developments in the pipeline (Bluetooth?) that make it worth waiting 12 months?
The current digital satellite TV smart cards have been broken faster and easier than previous generations ever were. To the contrary of the 'renewable security' idea, these devices are getting cracked, hacked, or subverted much sooner than the predicted timeframes of the companies. Many of the corporations listed in the article have sustained one or more failures in their own products, so I doubt the whole lot of them are going to hammer out the end-all to digital signal security.
I'm sure these cards will be nice and secure, just like the ones that satellite providers use.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch free HBO.
I have so much more time since I shot the TV.
Every geek should own a gun...
Note that the article talks about them 'closing the analog hole.'"
Should I be alarmed ?
Those who say it can't be done, shouldn't interfere with those who are doing it.
"closing the analog hole"?
well they can KISS MY analog hole..
hur hur hur
Why bother the general public with another credit-card like piece of crap?
:)
How long would it take to circumvent the protection?
The last 'crack' seen took less than 2 months to replace a sat-tv smartcard with a piece of (smart) software on the sat-receiver.
Hackers will always be smarter, we don't have a timelimit
... a smartcard reader/writer. Woohoo! A whole new horizon of hardware/software hacking!
Don't lament the removal of your rights, rejoice in the opportunity to fight to get them back!
Specifically:
- I want to be able to view anything on any device.
- I also want at least some capability to make a single copy. If this is limited to 1 generation, then this will be acceptable to me, but possibly not to everyone.
- I want to be able to record any broadcast for later viewing. Including Pay Per view.
-
This must not be location limited at all.
It is not my concern that the media cartels have a business model that divides the world into regions. It is possible to make a profit without region control. They should adapt their business model to what the consumer (i.e. me) wants.That way they'll have complete control over who watches what... Just ask Direct TV or Dishnetwork about how much security smartcards can provide. All this will do is create a whole bunch of hassle for the consumer and the hardware vendors as they deal with broken cards, and scratched contacts.
:wq
"Will We Need A SmartCard to Watch Digital TV?"
Will I need to buy a Digital TV if they make it too hard for me to watch? Seriously, all this 'flags' crap makes me want to avoid it all together.
TV needs me, I don't need TV. Without my eyeballs on the commercials, they aren't making money. They should consider that before they try pushing restrictions I don't want.
Here ONdigital collapsed after pirated cards flooded the markets. The Canal+ card/crypto system was broken. There was later a scandal when it was revealed that the team of hackers who broke it appeared to have significant backing from News Corp who operated the rival Sky TV which used its own crypt system.
This article talks about watermarking which is a tad more advanced than what's used here, but it makes little difference. The cards will be cracked, cloned, whatever. They should see what is going on outside their own borders.
and I quote: Other problems remain, though. For example, some insiders say Hollywood studios are demanding that the DVB copy protection group consider a way to add geographic limitations to where content, once legally obtained by a consumer, can be viewed. The plan is similar to an unpopular regional coding scheme used for DVD content scrambling
What does this have to do with piracy? Nothing, they use piracy as an excuse (and remember piracy is not a legal term, it's called copyright infringement) to help maintain a failing busines model. They want to control how and when people consume media, under the guise of protecting the consumer from the dangers of pir^H^H^H unauthorized consumption of copyrighted content.
In the UK and in the EU they have Sky TV, which is satelite television. The box requires a smart card to be inserted for use.
They've had it for a few years now.
I think it's a fine idea.
Besides - any guesses as to how long it'll be before this is circumvented? Place your bets!
Illegitimi non Carborundum.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
And fail miserably. Seriously, if DTV replaces analog in 2006, I will eat my hat.
sulli
RTFJ.
I dont watch a whole lot know but if that did happen I would not watch any TV. Who do they think they are?
I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!
Mike
The only way to truely close the analog hole is to not have any analog information. That means our eyes get pulled out or supplimented with digital receivers because that last step in any system is a analog transmision from the screen to our eyes. Any flags that get set to no copy well not be there in that step and a camera aimed and synced with the TV could record it and turn it back to a digital form free of what ever flags were set.
i'm glad that i will have to pay more on my products to install DRM devices so that others who are better coders than I can crack yet another code and enable me to subvert the DRM devices. i think DRM is a conspiracy by the OSS movement to harden their code crackers!!! eventually we will be sold sealed viewing boxes with self destructing media. included will be a memory eraser so you can forget you even saw what you saw, otherwise you may copy it.
"Please, sign me up for this new technology. It offers me no benefits, costs me money, and gives up my rights."
-- You. At least, you in the eyes of Hollywood.
This is such a waste of effort. All this means is that the person to first rip the data and then let it loose on gnutella ( or morpheus, etc. pick your fav. p2p ) will have to pay for the privelege. How is this different from buying a movie ticket and then taping it with your handycam and giving / selling the result?
Someday these corps. are going to have to realize that digital is _more_ easily copied than analog, not less. No matter what clever locks and barriers they put up, the data is the same, and so it is inherently easy to reproduce. The demands of digital secrecy/security are fundamentally opposite to the demands of broadcasting and never the twain shall meet.
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
Just hit it with a good sledgehammer and be done with it!
Geez when I had cable, I had to tinker around with 75-100 pF variable capacitors, copper wire, and metal RadioShack boxes to get free TV! Then I graduated to sattelite, and all I needed was a smartcard programmer! This is great news!
(Score: 5, Funny)
-RickTheWizKid
(And to think, I don't even _own_ a TV anymore... is this a bad thing?)
So 1st the MPAA pretends that CSS was adequate when they new that it wasn't. Now they are pretending that smart cards are the ultimate. That's fine as long is as they stick to their story and let the electronics manufactures start rolling out the products.
It looks like I'll just be one of those wierd old guys that still listens to music on vinyl. I also enjoy books.
I bet my kids will hate me for it.
On the other hand, now might be a good time to learn how to fix the current generation of 'disposable' kit and start hoarding parts. It might eventually become a nice little niche market.
Except that .NET has nothing whatsoever to do with this. But don't let that stop you.
sulli
RTFJ.
- Read a book!
- Go outside!
- Participate in democracy!
- Volunteer for charity!
This guys may be the best thing that's happened to western civilization since before Ed Sullivan sucked our collective brains out.Cantankerous old coot since 1957.
There is no such thing as 'closing the analog hole.' No matter what scheme you use to protect your content, it *has* to be decrypted somewhere. And then some enterprising team will take apart the decryption mechanism, figure out how it works, and build a stand-alone decryption box.
It needs to be done, if only because people have been spending thousands and thousands of dollars on flat-panel TVs, HDTVs, etc. and they're all loath to buy another one anytime soon.
I had a point but I forgot what it was, so I'd better stop now.
the coolest club on
and people will not use it.
I uess paper books will be the next target of this "analog hole"
so once people decide to stop watching TV, and begin to read more books, the publishing industry will begin to fase out paper books in favor of e-books....got to close that analog hole right.
wooo...now we will have a new underclass, those who can not afford electronic equipment...
will content publishers learn that when they try to keep control over the published information that it looses all value becasue no one wants to buy there crap? no, they will not and this is what will send us into the next dark age.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
One thing that annoys the hell out of me are people who do not pay for their Cable/Dish TV. Regardless of how incompetent the cable company may be, there are alternatives and there is simply no excuse for stealing cable. This has nothing to do with copy-control.
'closing the analog hole' ....
I would like to close their analog hole with my foot.
They'll start with SmartCards.
Then they'll go for.. oh, wait.. they already have monthly fees.
I bet they'll start asking for DNA samples and failing that, we'll be handing over first born children.
Hopefully we will soon need a smartcard to buy cigarettes as well...
Hollywood is completely overrated. Who gives a fuck if they want to lock down programs/movies. I'll just stop watching. Heck 90% of shows/movies are complete garbage anyway.
They won't stop filesharing/recording, they'll just lose business.
p.s. RIAA can KISS MY ASS
Smart Cards will protect you
Smart cards will protect you from the Terrible Secret OF TV!
Digital TVs watch YOU!
After years without seeing anime (I used to watch Robotech as a kid) I was reintroduced by my local club that twice a month runs screenings for shows unreleased in the states. I don't know how/if these clubs will survive all this DRM garbage. It'd be really sad to see these great clubs go away (some are over 20 years old I think) in 5-10 years because the content gets locked down. I just hope these drm tv's and what not bomb as hard as divx (the original where you paid everytime you wanted to watch your dvd).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
This is actually very disturbing to me, looks like hollywood wants to merge its 2 payment models while at the same time removing the consumer decision from the loop. it goes something like this, You pay a monthly subscription for your digital TV signal (probably cable) You pay a subscription fee to use your smart card to wtch the shows you pay for (like satellite tv) Oh and that 'free tv' that gets paid by advertizing,, well that all bonus revenue for the media copmanies because they are just going to *assume* you are a 'criminal' andyou are using your pvr ( that they convienently sell you and chage you a mothly subscription fee to use (because theyhave to off set the prediefined amount of people skipping the adverts, See: the minidisc built in piracy RIAA tax) [and to head you off TiVo provides you with a service for you fee stop shut your whine hole before you open it] So bascially you as the consumer.. you have to buy a big buck digital tv (or a cheaper digital to analog converter foryour old tv, you dont get to control what you watch (really) you dont get to control what you can record and watch later.. and the media copmanies get fatter. and of course the coropratoin friendly FCC doenst seem to mind at all, because even if they get kicked out for conflict of intrst, they get coushy jobs in media. (see: the political/corporate revolving door.) All your money are are belong to us.
As long as Americans continue to keep their media-created, instiable appetite for broadcast video and audio, this will work.
Why not unplug? Listen to the radio, read a book, go for a walk..
What's so special about Law & Order, Pay-per-View Heart concerts, and even, dare, I say, the Discovery Channel? Go to a library, INTERACT WITH PEOPLE. The only reason that the population will turn into a mob of wallscreen-watching zombies is if we decide to.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Nothing too unexpected or draconian here at least at first sight -- surprisingly reasonable, in fact.
This is very much what the home cinema press (here in the UK, at least) has been predicting for years, and it seems to be an improvement on the current impasse.
Currently, you receive an encrypted data stream through your digital cable or satellite system, and it's decoded by a smartcard, but you're never allowed to get your hands on the datastream at all.
Under this proposal, you'll be able to get your hands on the encrypted datastream, and pipe it around your home network, save it to disk, whatever. You'll still need a valid smartcard to be able to decrypt and view it, but you need one now already. It even sounds like they are thinking about not requireing you to have a smartcard for every TV (or keep moving your smartcard about), but instead allow one card to serve an entire home AV network.
As for 'closing the analog hole' with digital watermarking techniques, this really doesn't sound any different from a souped-up Macrovision. We already have analogue signals tagged with a 'do not record' marker, so there's nothing really new here.
Now, there are still ways they can screw this up; I'd really like them to drop the regional coding idea. And I hope that if I record a datastream for later viewing, that datastream doesn't become inaccessible to me if I subsequently cease to subscribe to the cable or satellite operator it was recorded from.
Overall though this sounds promising, and I feel moderately optimistic that this will end up being a system I can live with...
-roy
Take a look at the cost of new televisions that are HD capable. The prices are ridiculous right now. 35" HD TVs start at about $2000. There is absolutely noything about HD TV components or technology that justify the cost. The high cost is simply because they are new and are'nt strong sellers, yet. In a year or two the price will be down to that of a regular TV. Then you buy.
That's alright.
I'll be broadcasting my own analog stuff on the unlicensed spectrum and bypass digital all together.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
I suppose I'd be willing to allow that the studios have the right to market a product however they wish -- along with whatever overly complicated, failure-prone, oppressive "rights-management" schemes they'd like.
And I have the right not to buy it.
cheers
More to the point, will we need to pay for the privilege of buying the smartcard so we can watch digital TV? IIRC, digital TV was supposed to be a free, broadcast medium, available to everybody, just like analog broadcasting. Why is it necessary to have some kind of technology to control who is watching? More to the point, if the copying of digital content so bothers the movie studios, why don't they just opt not to release their flicks for digital broadcast? Oh, that's right, Jack Valenti and Co. threatened to take their toys and go home from the digital party unless something was done. This really scared the broadcasters and electronics makers.
Apparently, this was that "something." It could be used to extract payments from folks with digital TVs; I guess they feel they can't get these couch potatoes to go to the cinema or get up and go to Blockbuster and buy DVDs. Once again, it's all about control and DRM (Digital Reach for your Money). If these measures are necessary, why is it that the movie studios don't seem to mind if their product (rubbish, for the most part) is broadcast on analog TV all the time? Even after the Betamax case, they don't seem to mind that one can record movies on a VCR-- that is a copy, right? (no pun intended) I am rather surprised that they allow their flicks to be broadcast, rather than lose all that revenue.
All I conclude is that these industries aren't serving my interests as a potential customer. Once again, Big Media has attempted to put their grubby fingers on emerging technology.
Always look on the briight side of life! (whistle, whistle)
The day HDTV and SmartCards become a requirement is probably the day we stop watching TV shows altogether, though we'll likely keep the TV around for watching movies and playing games and the like. I don't know who they think they're kidding, but the crap they're trying to protect just isn't worth this kind of annoyance.
Case in point - Why do we need 14 channels of HBO in our cable package -- is it so we have more choice? No, it's because exclusivity deals and vertical ownership mean they have to be a Time-Warner billboard. Oh, that and the movies suck, so they have to have 14 channels of it to make it seem like you're getting your money's worth. When I was a kid, we got 1 HBO channel, but they ran primo movies every night, and it was generally worth the subscription fee. Now, it's 14 channels of Sex&City reruns and crap movies from the 80's and (early)90's. Screw them. Don't **EVEN** get me started on "Slowtime" - the premium cable network for morons and the terminally horny.
Now they want me to get a smart card and an encryption ID key for the priviledge of watching Will & Grace? Sorry. I'll do without - It's more fun playing with my wife anyway.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
I'd like to plug their analog hole... fill it nice and good. Yeah.
Paul
TV: All viewers must insert their identity cards and authenticate with the Viewing System before playback can commence.
TV: This TV can see 4 potential viewers and a dog in the room. Three viewers are on the TSN subscription plan and have automatic access to the broadcast. These viewers have household authentication and have validated within the last 24 hours. Viewing is authorized. The forth viewer, Bob Neighbour has inserted his viewerID(tm) card but not authenticated and will need to authorize the use of credit to enable the viewing. TSN allows dogs to watch Monday Night Football for free.
TV: Viewing paused. Awaiting authorization or departure. TSN thanks you for your viewing habits.
Americans love their television. Not even
God can save a Congressmen who lets
smartcards come between Americans and their
free television.
With a few exceptions here and there, commercial e-book operations have been a financial failure. There's a lot of conjecture floating around as to why no one seems to want these e-books. My own conjecture is that its due to the simple fact that people don't want to pay more for less (in a rational universe, this would go without saying for anyone with any business sense.)
Its too early so say for sure, but I see the possibility of the same thing happening here. Even leaving aside issues like playing media on Linux desktops, if Joe Sixpack can't do all the same stuff with this newfangled digital technology that he could do before with the old, if it is inconvenient to him, if he is getting less for the same money or more, he ain't gonna want it.
So the answer, IMHO, is just DON'T WATCH IT. There are better things to do than watching TV/Movies. Let them 'protect' their crap as much as they like, it won't bother me, I'm not interested.
Isn't this the same as needing a hardware dongle to run an application?
I deal with this everyday for some of the apps that I use - when the app costs $5000, then the manufacturer has a vested interest in making sure that something as easy to procure as a serial number won't unlock it.
Then again, maybe the reason it costs $5000 is because piracy cut into profits so greatly that they can't recoup r&d any other way.
Oh, but I forgot, stealing services and intangibles is OK if you're a geek...
Just wait... one day, your TV and PVR will be plotting against you.
All I want is a kind word, a warm bed and unlimited power.
Next, they'll have them put in your radio. Does anyone see this as analogous to Microsoft's secure computing initiative? Imagine you have to pay for a smart card when all you want to do is listen to NPR or watch PBS. Is this like trying to run Linux on Palladium hardware?
moto411.com
... and pick up a book.
Modern PC's have more than enough CPU power to decode and display digital video streams from the ethernet. Monitors have more than enough resolution to display HDTV. 100mbit ethernet is fast enough for HDTV. We just need cable boxes with ethernet ports.
HDTV could have an order of magnitude more viewers, if the entertainment industry would get over their computer phobia.
The other thing being overlooked is that the DVB copy production group is for Europe only. Although this technology could be used in the US to do the same sort of thing, other US-based groups would have to make those decisions.
If you're buying a HDTV today, make sure it's got Firewire or DVI inputs so you don't get forced to use only half the resolution of your expensive new set on whatever the content owners decide is "premium" content.
Once you lick the lollipop of mediocrity, you'll suck forever!
Unless i'm reading this article wrong, what they mean by "plugging the analog hole" is basically back to the old "VCRs will bankrupt us with rampant piracy!" I thought the point of DRM technology was to protect DIGITAL signals. Once it goes analog, you're no better off than you are now, and I don't see the big media companies going under due to analog piracy any time soon (when did the VCR become popular?)
One other thing i thought was interesting, if they're going to sell a settop box for analog TVs, now you have an unencrypted signal on the wire. I know they're talking about watermarking in the digital/analog converters, but I just dont see this as very feasible. No matter what sort of watermarking they put in that signal, my current computer will happily record, store, and transmit that signal from now until forever. Just because you can't do it with a standard device, doesn't mean its going to make it a rare occurrence. Once one person records it, strips the watermarkings, and throws it up on Kazaa, you're back to the same problem.
So how much money are they wasting on technology that is destined to fail (someone mentioned 45 seconds at the hands of a Satellite cracker?) It'd probably be cheaper to pay microsoft to let them snoop on everyone running windows. Then again, they are already paying the government to let them do that aren't they?
Distributors claim that piracy is making them lose
big money even if we read about serious studies stating that losses are marginal or non-existent.
But I think I know why, it's because they want to
control the market in order to raise the pricing
of all their products.
In brief they want to bleed us to death and they
know that if piracy is too easy it will flourish
when they raise those prices.
If ever they get rid of piracy one way or another
we will pay the price, those movies will be
unaffordable.
Those big corporations are not treating their
customers as they should.
I hear the people answering to me "It is the
way it happens in a capitalist society" and I even
hear some people trying to tag me as a communist,
to them I answer right now that controling a market is the opposite of a free market and I don't like it.
Big corporations colluding together to create
an environment where the customers are deprived
of features, commodities and freedom should be
considered as illegal because it is the exact same thing as a monopoly.
I get angry each time that I read such news in Slashdot and it is not healthy. Soon I'll be forced to stop reading Slashdot for health reasons.
Come on people, wake-up, some big guys in big offices want to steal you your way of life, they would charge you the air you're breathing if they ever find a way to do it. Tell them now that it is unacceptable.
looks like everyone's rights are well protected.... except the rights (dare I say "Fair use rights") of the group who is paying for the whole house-of-cards
This has nothing to do with copy-control.
Precisely, it has to do with control over the viewers and their ability to view movies or other content on DTV. Thing is, DTV is not cable or satellite, it's broadcast TV which is supposed to be available to everyone. No restrictions. This is about the movie industry's attempt to gain control over DTV and probably will make you pay for the privilege of being able to watch it.
In the U.S., the broadcast spectrum belongs to the public; broadcast stations are operating as "public trustees". Theoretically, anything that is broadcast must be available to anyone with a TV set that can receive the signal. Nobody should be allowed to turn broadcast TV into pay TV, or be allowed to restrict the ability of individuals to access the broadcast airwaves. If this smart card proposal were applied to digital broadcasts, we have in effect created a TV caste system.
Always look on the briight side of life! (whistle, whistle)
What if they make it so hard to watch that nobody cares anymore and they stop watching?
Its the missing link.
The assumption is we'll watch however it suits the studios.
We'll see how it all plays out. I've got a hunch though.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Last week I polled 10 friends and family members if they were watching "Taken" on the SciFi channel.
Three didn't have cable and didn't know about it.
Three had cable and kids and didnt watch evening weekday television after 9pm.
One was watching.
The rest where Christmas shopping or otherwise had a life and didn't know what I was talking about.
As for myself, I experienced lost time. Like about 20 hours worth over the last two week.
When demand goes down, and prices are increased to make up the revenue, you start an avalance effect that will hasten the downfall.
Good luck Hollywood! Please, this time around keep track of how much you spend on these shenanegins vs how much you save. Be realistic about how much money "piracy of television" is really costing you. I, for one, just don't see any hope of this paying off, and I don't want to have to go through this again when you fail to learn your lesson. If my $1500 HD-ready TV isn't adaptable to the new system, I'm going to chuck it through your window and demand my money back.
What this means for consumers is simple: No matter what the sales clerk tells you, and no matter how much you spend on a fancy digital ready monitor or plasma display today, there will never be a tuner that puts out a signal that your expensive monitor will accept at the high definition resolutions you want and expect. Buy now and you will be screwed! Once they figure out how to copy protection hobble the system, then and only then will you be able to get a display that might someday display the full promise of DTV, but unless you plan on being part of a massive class action consumer lawsuit, stay away from any new equipment until they figure out how they are going to cripple the equipment you pay for.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Hey,
:)
I got satellite TV last week. I won't say the brand (don't accuse me of advertising) but suffice it to say it was one of the two major players.
Picture quality: best I've ever seen. Far better than cable (analog) and far, far, *far* better than the crappy digital cable we here have in San Francisco (Thanks AT&T-crapola).
Restrictions: NONE!!!
I purchased a PVR that has no monthly fee - and I can record to outside devices such as VCR without macrovision - even from the PVR recorded content.
Now - I just got this last week - but must say: I'm 110% very happy with it. So flame away, but I'm sure that as soon as they *force* us on to digital TV, and *force* us not to record shows (hmmm - any TIVO fans???) there will be mass exodus from the evil *them* and people will start using alternatives.
Other thoughts: how about TV via DSL/other broadband in 5-10 years??? I think it's possible. Satellite - definitely possible.
For those of you who will flame that they "don't have access to satellite" due to landlords or physical space considerations - I'm sorry & just like many of us look for broadband with our next apartments/homes, I'll be looking for a clear view to the south
They want to close the anal log hole? And all this time I thought they were trying to shove stuff in it,,,
While you provided excellent examples in the UK, there is no need to look any further than US satellite services. Directv and Echostar both use smart cards that have been hacked since the beginning. When one gets swapped out for a new one, that one gets hacked in a matter of months. Nothing new.
Moderation Totals: Flamebait=2, Troll=1, Redundant=1, Insightful=6, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=12. (not mine)
and that's because I will always own the technology to render it needless. I do now for DVD's. I do not abuse the privilige; I don't make and distribute pirated copies for all my friends. I own the technology because it was impossible for me to view Macrovision protected DVD output on my ancient (but still working and gorgeous pictured) RCA analog TV.
By the new standards (DMCA), that same act will make me a criminal; not the fact that I DO pirate movies, merely the fact that I CAN pirate movies. So be it. They really don't want me as a criminal. But if they force me to be a criminal, I'll damn sure bet that they ain't seen such a criminal yet!
Mwahahha!
It's high time somebody did something about closing down those a-holes! Oh wait, damn, I read the article too fast again...
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
In a few years, TV stations are supposedly going to begin transmitting digital-only signals. And those who don't want to go buy a new TV will have to buy a set-top box to convert the signal so their old TV can handle the signal. Here's what I'd like to know - if the signal gets converted to analog, can't it be swiped at that point, or from the TV's output jacks? But, this whole system will be worked around soon enough...
When you think about it, overall, what does television (even cable) really bring you that you can't get elsewhere?
News: Radio, websites, local, national and international simulcast streams, newspapers, etc
Movies: Theater, rentals, public library
Series: The fact is most series are crap, and simply an airtime filler between commericals. The best/most popular are becoming available on DVD anyway.
The only real sticking point is live sports, which are better viewed live if possible, or in a public or semi-public place.
So when you really, honestly evaluate it what do you need television for anyway?
Kill your television and be done with it. I bet you wont miss it at all after three months or so.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - BF
HELL NO!!!
Southwestern Bell is shady enough without any helpat all from bleeding edge technologies like this.
DirectTV is a POS in the SF bayarea:
Get this, they send bills from Pitaxo texas, forward it to a subcarrier who then forwards it to your house
WTF kind of shit is that? DO NOT ENCOURAGE THIS PRACTICE!!!
If you can get ATT, do so, their billing department is habitually offcycle, their service satelites are frequently out of sync, and to top it off their current pricing policies are strange: 20 for something does not include lochal channels but for 10 bucks I get them the next inclusive package with lochal programs is 50 dollers
The last thing we need is a smart card that can go wrong!
That just gives a whole new meaning to the DMCA.
And to think I thought being a certifed asshole was in the public domain. Now the feds are gonna sue me...
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
"Then again, maybe the reason it costs $5000 is because piracy cut into profits so greatly that they can't recoup r&d any other way."
I believe the reason dongles are put into place is because software owners are keenly aware their software isn't worth what they're asking and therefore require their customers to put up with a terrible inconvencience to support what is likely a soon-to-be-failed business plan.
They can look at it two ways:
"If I sell software for $100 a copy with a simple serial number requirement, I can probably sell 10 to every company."
"Or if I put in a dongle, I can charge whatever I want because for most businesses it is inherently uncopyable. I may only sell one though, because I'm plan on charging $5,000 a copy"
So one way, I sell 10 and only make $1000, the other way, I sell 1 and make $5000. Simple math, use the dongle.
Except.
A business plan based on limiting the number of copies of software you sell is inherently one that will fail.
Don't people understand how MS built their monopoly?
Oh no, I'd rather blame people who ignore EULA's and copyrights. They're the reason people don't want to support my poor business planning.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
The cards they're using on the satellite services (directv, etc) already use smart cards. Where's the new technology?
"And fail miserably. Seriously, if DTV replaces analog in 2006, I will eat my hat."
Would you like paper or plastic?
:(
I purchased a PVR that has no monthly fee
Could you be more specific, please? I didn't think these existed, much like the holy grail and mythical magnetic monopole.
In the UK and in the EU ... the box requires a smart card to be inserted for use.
/.)
Yes, and look at how many hacked cards there are over here.
In fact there was even a story a while ago that one pay-TV provider was deliberately hacking the smart cards of another. (I can't find the reference, but I'm sure it was right here on
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
So,
After they figure out they cant protect their precious IP (Dreck-O-Vision) with the smart card DRM scream, will they implement an analog hole biometric authentication of the viewer?
Who would possibly want to hack that?
Radical notion -- opt out.
Step one - realize that you are NOT the consumer for broadcast entertainment -- you are the product. The consumer is the advertiser, the "content" is the vehicle for delivering the product (you) to the consumer.
Step two -- get sick of being sold
Step three -- look at your "favorite shows" in a whole new light
--
Ha! Modding the guy flamebait when he was replying to HIMSELF. Dumbass moderator! Do you find it difficult to dress yourself in the morning too? hehehehe....
.. including what THEY call copyright protection have EVERYTHING to do with their business models. The fact that Jaboulet didn't say as much either means he's an idiot or paid quite well. You choose.
I've had it in my DirecTV reciever for like 8 years now. It's been in the USA for a long time, but nobody's noticed.
mechanicos ergo cogito
There's something to say about protecting intellectual property, but come on! Like it or not, legal or not, people do not want restrictions placed on how they use media. Attempts to do so ultimately lead to either piracy, or abandonment in favor of an alternative. Remember DIVX (the encrypted DVD, not the MPEG4)? Another example is using Mod chips for game consoles. If you need a smart card to watch TV, especially if it's related to collecting payment from the consumer for the priviledge, you'll see any of the following: 1. Hacked smart cards a la DirecTV and Dish style 2. Modified hardware to bypass the requirement 3. Underground streaming of television via Internet a la Shoutcast style (that's my big prediction for the upcoming couple of years).
I don't have cable and watch few shows on TV.
Most people I know are watching fewer and fewer amounts of TV.
With most people having cable and with so many channels now on cable the few that are watching is so spread out,and advertisers now have to spread the money that they spend to more channels. So the old broadcast stations now get less money do to the spreading of the advertising dollars.
Wise men speak because they have something to say, Fools because they have to say something!!!!
The think with digital TV is you can't watch it and record another channel at the same time. Days when you could do that are long gone.
This guy needs to close his analog hole too.
That is all :-)
Freedom: "I won't!"
Is the day i stop watching tv or listening to music. Screw them.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
That makes two of us. The loudest thought that came into my head as I read this was "Well, I guess that If this sort of restrictive nonsense becomes the only TV/movie option I'll just stick to reading books". Hell, even if publishing paper books becomes illegal tomorrow, I'll still have two lifetimes' supply of reading - and that's only including the best books ever written.
;-)
Of course, there's always the chance that Joss Whedon will throw a big monkeywrench in my plan at some point...
Freedom: "I won't!"
If both the D/A *and A/D* have circuitry that prevent conversion without a subscription payment, will my personally created iMovie video be blocked from distribution? Will this not be an a priori 1st amendment violation especially if the FCC approves the standard making it a form of government censorship?
But you CAN make the penalties for being caught with one of these boxes so extreme that it's not worth the risk. Remember, in America you can go to prison just for possessing certain dried plant material, and hurting nobody but (possibly) yourself. Emerging YEARS later with bad Bic-ink tattoos, a permanently distended rectum, and a criminal record that makes you unemployable. Big Media can easily buy a comparable law for digital TV piracy. Free cable sounds less appealing now, doesn't it?
Freedom: "I won't!"
Hey,
well - ok, I don't work for any satellite company, and didn't want to advertise, but here's the PVR with no monthly fee (someone asked)...
Any of the DishNetwork PVRs... The UI is nowhere near as good as TIVO/Replay, but it gets the job done and I'm a happy customer (1 week).
Nearly every level, except the most important one: the consumers themsevles. Time will tell whether this will be a boon for the broadcasting industry or a DIVX debacle on an epic scale...
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
The final goal is total control of *all* informational content.. Dont let them fool you.
" Im sorry sir, but your lease to read that title you are requesting, 'the US constitution' has expired.. please come to the center, we will be waiting in the white zone for you.. "
---- Booth was a patriot ----
They probably will find out that after spending lots of money on smart rights their income stays the same or decreases. Maybe the number of viewers falls, maybe drastically, but those that now are not willing and able to pay won't be willing and able to pay once they are forced. They will just stop consuming, find other things to do in their spare time.
Of course that can drastically backfire on the industry.
Other thoughts: how about TV via DSL/other broadband in 5-10 years??? I think it's possible. Satellite - definitely possible.
My local telephone co./ISP is rolling out Digital TV over DSL. I haven't heard how much money or how many channels yet. Don't know exactly when , I've been told after the first of the year (2003).
More like they want to 'plug' the 'analog hole' with their money wrapped 'digital dick'.
Thats just my take on it though, I could be wrong.
i read 1 line and felt like grabbing all the greedy bastards. .ripping out their sphincter and strangle them with it.. they FUCKING DESERVE IT!
requiring a SMART card to vegetate in front of a t.v....I gave up on analog t.v. years ago..
And On/ITVDigital has now been replaced with .
No card. No Contract. No nothing.
They can't go back on this now for Digital Terrestrial. The government want to turn off Analogue in 2010 and to do that, there has to be a free service that's worth people switching.
To lose the 1.3-1.5 million people with these current boxes would be an unimaginably huge setback.
After reading that article, one thing is clear: Hollywood doesn't want me to view their content. They are so bent on protecting it from me, so I'll make it easier on them. I just won't buy it. Hell, I don't watch TV anymore anyways.
13) Make sure as many technical jobs as possible are "outsourced" to Third World countries so that companies can double, triple or quadruple their profit margins in the near-term, while scaring any U.S. citizens or recent immigrants from choosing a career in technology, and dooming said companies to failure for the long-term.
www.jmagar.com
-
Here's the solution I think the content providers should embrace:
If you fear you content being pirated that much, don't broadcast it. I promise I won't miss it.
Since I'm already using a DirecTiVo (hacked to 120GB) I can't see switching to a "new" technology that limits me so much; personally I sort of expected all but the basic HD tuners to be TiVo'ized (PVR'd?). Even if it was just a 30 minute buffer it be a huge win being able to pause what you are watching, or catch what the actor just mumbled out, rewind to let a spouse watch an important news story, etc.
I'm not sure what content they are trying to protect, any movie thats going to get broadcasted is very likely been available on DVD, an already comprimised medium, already. Sure, HDTV MIGHT give a better picture, but when you are talking about "closing the analog hole" you're clearly off the "perfect copy" plan. So are we trying to protect mini-series, such as "Taken"? Is this why I can't watch CSI and Monday Night Football in full HiDef glory?
I suppose they could be trying to protect their "buisness" of reselling series on DVD. After all, why pay $100 for the Sopranos Season 1 when you have archived it in HiDef Digital, but what about fans of less popular shows? I can't borrow a copy of MTV's music awards from my co-worker because some fool might pay $$$ for the complete first season of Cop Rock? (Ok, I paid for the animated Clerks half season, but only two episodes were ever aired...)
Reminds me of all the studios that claimed they would never release movies on DVD because of piracy concerns (long before it was cracked); even now that its cracked none of them are willing to pass on the revenues they get by releasing a DVD. Can anyone name a movie that has been released to video but NOT to DVD?
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
Step four - Graduate college and slowly realize that you sound like a fucking loony
Amen to that. I dropped cable about 2 1/2 years ago in favor of sattelite. I agree 100% that the picture and sound is far superior to what is offered by even digital cable! Although I don't have a PVR at this time, I do plan on purchasing one sometime soon because as you said, there's NO additional cost involved.
You neglected to mention something VERY important... I see on a post below that you're using DishNet, well I am too. The important thing is that not only is the quality better, the service is superior to cable (Time Warner in my case) and it's CHEAPER. I'm running 2 receivers with nearly 200 stations and am still paying $20 a month less than I was on cable.
My good sig is in the laundry
That's where it will fail. SDMI failed precisely because of their inability to resolve the technical details. How is this group any smarter than the folks at SDMI?
This fits the SDMI failure pattern exactly. As usual, they are clueless about the fact that the devil is truly, truly, in the details.
How is this news? Anyone who reads Slashdot regularly knows that Hollywood and electronics manufacturers have been seeking to close our analog holes every chance they get!
Sorry, I couldn't resist pointing out the obvious. :)
ian.
ian
You don't need to replace the tower and the entire broadcast chain. You can get by with keeping all your NTSC gear and buying an ATSC encoder/exciter and a new transmitter. It will not be HDTV, but it will be DTV and enough to meet FCC requirements.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
First we have this article about how the "high tech" companies are all collaborating to severely restrict new digital devices, followed by an article about "Is america losing it's high-tech edge?"
Looks like you already answered this question folks. This is a PRIME FUCKING EXAMPLE of why the US is falling behind. All this bullshit talk about plugging the anal hole (oops, I mean analog) is exactly why the US is losing it's edge--it's more about protecting the bottom line of insanely rich megacorps.
Two thoughts:
1. This will save me the cost of buying a digital TV, ever. Hell the history channel is still the only reason I have cable.
2. I think that the media companies should be far more concerned about comming up with some content that is WORTH recording instead of the bland, mass market pap that is made today.
Not sure if you were being funny or not but - I got satellite TV last week. I won't say the brand (don't accuse me of advertising) but suffice it to say it was one of the two major players. - there are only two Satellite providers.
Interesting. With all the crap that Hollywood is trying to put into the broadcast and device channel. Seems all that is needed is some upstarts with a better model (e.g. free internet radio stations) where the ARTISTS and not the MIDDLEMEN are the prime benefitters.
All you need is some Blair Witch - type directors/producers/actors and you could really turn Hollywood on its head to where the real plots, etc. get the $$$.
Maybe some sort of eBay like rating/payment system on top of a high-bandwidth media server. Sounds like a winner.
...how many people, after this, will stop watching TV?
Asside from enjoying your favorite movies or the public broadcast news, which will and must always be available for free due to national security and other emergency needs, what else do we need TV for?
Generally speaking, I've already stopped watching TV years ago. I think when people start paying more for it, they'll decide to dump it too. Then again, look at all those people spending billions on cigarettes... humanity is doomed so long as it continues to feed upon its own weaknesses.
"I believe the reason dongles are put into place is because software owners are keenly aware their software isn't worth what they're asking and therefore require their customers to put up with a terrible inconvencience to support what is likely a soon-to-be-failed business plan."
False. Three things:
1-No one's forced to buy the product.
2-Even some of the high-end software has several choices. Ties with #1
3-People are purchasing the product.Demand,Supply. "Oh terrible inconvencience" See #2
Also there's several VERY important things you're forgetting, and it's throwing your whole argument off. The costs to create software aren't the same across catagories. A full 3D package like Maya is inherently more complicated to create than say an os, or a wordprocessing suite.
The cost of mass producing the physical materials that go into a software package may be across the board low, but not necessarily the creation of said software.
Also in the high-end market there's greater demand for QS as opposed to say a $50 consumer product.
"A business plan based on limiting the number of copies of software you sell is inherently one that will fail."
Yet the very notion that the copyright holder can control how little or how much of their product they can sell has been enshrined in copyright law.
Has worked fine so far, until greed took over the world. (That applies to both sides of the fence, I'm not playing favourites.).
[long ass rant]
what pisses me off about this whole arena of digital information control is it only works -- we are only event talk ing about it -- if the legislators (that the big money buys) are on board to make LAWS that make all this stuff happen. No one on earth would voluntarily submit to technology that costs more, reduces rights, etc. etc. EXCEPT if they are forced by laws.
The terrible thing is that only through more stringent laws will the "digital content industry" be able to survive. long term I just don't see it happening. we cannot legilate to all humans worldwide that everyone supports a system of information-access control just so 7 big media conglomerates can continue to maintain the hedgemeony.
the fact we even consider this crap is such a GD joke it's pathetic.
[/long ass rant]
sorry.
So much for learning from ones mistakes. I guess they don't remember what happened to certain satellite provider that used similar technology.
My in-laws went to buy a DVD player. They were gonna get one of the combo DVD/VHS players, but the best buy dweeb started going on about how in 2006, VCR's won't work anymore.
He probably talked them into buying something cheaper since it wasn't a combo (hopefully they didn't buy the super-whiz-bang one).
They asked me about it when they called this weekend - I felt bad for them...they are definatly 12:00 flashers. For years they thought their VCR was broke and couldn't record. My wife (engaged then) used to call me from their house asking how to set the time.
It'll be interesting to see what smartcard solutions come out for this major portion of the populace.
I recall a recent posting concerning the an FCC RFC on proposed opening of analog tv Wavelengths. At the time I wondered if this could be part of an analog tv closure strategy. Interesting that this should come so hard on the heels. (yes I know they said the technology in question wouldn't interefere...but...this and other possibilities). I know people who've forced qwest to give them cisco 678's or create a new cap circuit in a dmt available location because they forced the switch from cap to dmt dsl signal type (thus forcing an unwanted technology expense on the customer). Television should be considered under similar technology closure rules as it's actually used as part of the critically necessary national emergency broadcast system! Personally I'm not a videophile and could care less if the picture is somewhat more crisp, or has new options that I don't really want, what I've got gets the job done for me and I couldn't afford better anyway as I've got a house payment and kids and a job that pays jack in the current economy. If somebody (government, techno-conglomerate) wants to force the gap closure maybe they should give away 1000$ televisions (or maybe a few of those nifty converters)! Hey it IS Christmas after all right? Perhaps a time will come when some among may use the following handy form I've included! Perhaps evenin response to FCC RFC's on analog TV bandwidth deregulation! print out this post and cut on the dotted line Send to FCC c/o Unknown Techno-Conglomerate Lobbyists cut here Dear FCC, I LOVE what you're doing with that nasty "analog loophole". Please get it closed and send me my free tv or your new family sized "box-o-converters" (with flavor crystals) right away! Send it to Name:___________________________ Address:___________________________ City State and Zip:___________________________ ___________________________
Ask the Direct Broadcast Satellite industry how well Smart Card technology has protected their content. Only about 10% of the total viewers of DBS are using hacked cards. So tell the HDTV guys that 10% isn't that bad, really. Bring on the smartcards guys. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
the SmartRight group will incorporate features that not only detect watermarks at an A/D converter, but also generate watermarking at a D/A point.
Ok, everyone reading this. You all need to stop giving money to the copyright industry forever. That means no Star Trek and NO FUCKING HOBBITS EITHER!!! NO MONEY FOR THEM AT ALL!!!
Best. Comment. Ever. Enjoy!
[quote]All your money are are belong to us.[/quote]
hehe. i dont know why but that still makes me laugh when i see people use that phrase.
And what about all of the current analog TV's that are out there ... will it be illegal to own one? Even if you had a digital converter box, that box HAS to output analog signals to a current (non-digital) TV.
Hmmmm ... maybe time to stock up on supplies for the coming revolution.
Karma? Karma? I don't need no stinkin' karma.
Eh, I dunno.. I still haven't seen any cracks for digital cable boxes. Been looking for a while, too. What can I say? I'd like to be able to watch stuff (don't laugh, but usually particularily smart commercials or the free music video on demand service) later in time, especially in the case of VOD, where they 'recycle' old stuff, and with decent quality. Sure, I can use my trusty ole ATI TV-WONDER to capture video, but those 525 lines of horizontal resolution don't compare to even the worst 720x480p digital signals.
[insert witty comment here]
... it rots your brain anyway.
... now I get to watch all the Road Runner High Speed and AOL infomercials I want!
They can close my "analog hole" with that, if I can close their anal hole with something. ;-)
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
to spend that money on an assault rifle. The way things are going, an HDTV isn't going to be very useful in an uprising against the corporate state and their enforcers ;)
If you pay for your digital TV (Sky, cable) then sure you do. But if you have a Freeview (free digital terrestrial) digibox receiver, you don't need a smartcard to receive digital TV, which transmits about 26 TV channels and 12 radio stations. You'd actually watch about 10 of the TV channels regularly, and all the major ones transmit anamorphic widescreen most of the time. (There used to be a pay-subscription digital terrestrial broadcaster, OnDigital/ITV Digital, but they went bust, and the BBC more or less took it over. More info here.
So in the UK, the genie is out of the bottle. A TV marked "DVB" just works, and will continue to work. Why does Hollywood bother messing about with copy restriction, screwing the adoption of digital TV in the US, when it's already free and unrestricted in the UK (and Australia)?
it's not about the karma, it's about the whuffie
Cable is already the biggest rip off around. Remember the good old days of rabbit ears and UHF channels when the extra bill didn't even exist yet? People just take it for granted now that they have to pay for their TV. We pay to watch their advertisements!!! And what does the cable company charge us for this privledge of being able to watch advertisements? O just $40 a month! No thanks AT&T, take a friggin hike!! I used to pay for the box, remote and 30 different HBOs I never watched before I wised up and realized I was being systematically ripped off. First I downgraded to just basic but even that, without the box and remote and pay channels, is still $40 a month! I decided to downgrade to just Basic 1 service and haven't looked back since. I still get the important channels( Cartoon Network, Sci-Fi, AMC -formerly the poor mans HBO before they started playing commericals and Fox for the Simpsons) without all the crap (CNN, CNBC, CNblah blah and MTV -evil network that tells you what to listen to). I now pay $8.50 a month for about 40 channels and will never pay anymore. Switching over to radio for your entertainment isn't really an option either because since the massive Clear Channel/Infinity take over of American radio all songs played are paid for and essentially all programming is advertising for crappy music that Sony or somebody is trying to shove down our throats. Even movies are not a viable entertainment option anymore as the majority suck and they seem to get worse on the whole as the ticket prices get higher ($8.50 for a movie!! no thanks that's a month of cable I could buy instead!).
First hate your customers; then accuse them of stealing; then make it difficult for them to get your product; then force them to sit and watch at the time the broadcaster wants to show the program; then fill the screen with logos and constant promos (and fit the programs in the gaps.)
If I were a production company with a successful series (say Friends) I'd look very seriously at distributing the program via DVD possibly stuck to the front of a "Friends" monthly magazine. Then the production company would be free of the broadcasters commercial insanity. The advertisers would love the demographics of such a product.
TV is not a necessity. I don't need it to survive. If you (the industry) continue to rake your customers over the coals, you will have one less to deal with. And if I feel this way, others will too. And with lowered numbers comes higher prices for those who remain. When that happens prices will need to be increased so you can stay fat. But eventually even the dumb ones will smarten up and seek alternative entertainment methods.
>1-No one's forced to buy the product.
I guess if you're a hobbyist. Otherwise you need a copy of certain pieces of software if they relate to your business. An example, using a heavily dongled software: AutoCAD. Try running a CAD business without it.
>2-Even some of the high-end software has several choices. Ties with #1
No it doesn't. See my rebuttal to #1. What's the alternative? Write your own? It's a CAD company, not a software company.
>3-People are purchasing the product.Demand,Supply. "Oh terrible inconvencience" See #2
If it's supply and demand, then a lower demand caused by the increased price should lower the price to increase the demand. This is why piracy beats software companies into submission when their prices are too high: MS windows costs $15 to buy legitimately in China, for example.
>A full 3D package like Maya is inherently more complicated to create than say an os, or a wordprocessing suite.
I disagree. Maya was created by far fewer engineers than Windows XP (for example) and took far less time to create. Why is this? Are all the engineers at MS brain dead? I doubt it. It's the same for Word, WordPerfect, many other products.
>Also in the high-end market there's greater demand for QS as opposed to say a $50 consumer product.
There is? I've worked on "high-end" million dollar CNC based machines that still run DOS. The software is so unstable and poorly designed that it will actually crash randomly if there isn't just enough low-memory available. There is so little error-checking in the program that the software doesn't lock its files (makes it horrible on a network) and doesn't even check if enough memory is available for it to run. At worst, when the software crashes, it will destroy the machine.
And that's what you get for $1 million in an industry that demands QS. Yet the things sell like hotcakes.
It's all marketing, having a foothold in the industry, and poor management.
>Yet the very notion that the copyright holder can control how little or how much of their product they can sell has been enshrined in copyright law.
Not exactly. The Berne convention only allows people to control distribution of their material for a short time. It certainly doesn't assure the seller of any sales.
...if someone spent hours and hours analyzing how to break down an encryption system for cable or satellite, what makes you think that they would tell YOU? You'll tell a friend, who will tell a friend, who will tell a friend and next thing you know, poof! the whole thing is discovered and shut down. That's one of the funniest myths of hacking: that an exploit is public domain. Let me assure you that the best ones are not.
Over here in britain we have virtually no rights if we want to use digital TV. We have Sky, a news corps company, which are the only provider of quality digital programming. There used to be a terrestrial alternative, called OnDigital (which changed it's name) but it ran into financial troubles then went under less than a year ago. Some say this was due to it's easily breakable conditional access system, and rumours have it Sky paid a bunch of pirates to develop a hack. Sky reserve the right to monitor what we watch, they overcharge, our boxes make phone calls in the middle of the night telling who knows what to them, and the T&Cs are horribly restrictive, but we don't seem to mind. Personally, I don't really care if someone knows what I watch, because TV isn't really that big a part of my life. I think most people feel the same way.
that Hollywood and the Major Electronics Manufacturers are in agreement. I wonder how long it will take poor sales to show how the Consumers whom they are supposed to serve (IE: their reason to exist) feel.
When the only tv is digital, and the only way to watch is an ultra-controlled smartcard scenario, there will be at least one tv switched off; mine.
...
That's when it'll be time to go out for walk, start a few hobbies, read, play cards
If a boob tube fix is required, a DVD rental will be prescribed.
TV was good while it lasted.
The question to answer is:
What if I shot my Television
Aside from making a mess in your living room, you'd probably find yourself with more productive time, better educated children, and a well-used library card.
It's about control. They want to control you in every way they can, (excuse the Little Red Riding Hood reference) All the Better to Rob You With! Imagine having to pay royalties just to turn on your TV. It probably will happen in the next few years unless we resist. Problem is, that argument holds no ground legally. Thus, we need a reasonable argument. I will soon be writing a paper on destroying the concept of intellectual property in a peaceful in lawful way. Basically it goes like this: create public domain content that anyone can access for free, create massive online social networks devoted to spreading this content, do everything in your power to make public domain and other Free-Speech Media (public domain and GPL-like licensed content) mainstream -- and when the DRM in our boxes block Free-Speech content, sue like there's no tomorrow. As long as you stick strictly to Free-Speech content, you'll win every time, I guarantee it. That, and a highly publicized slip-up of DRM will make the common people see the media companies for what they really are -- white-collar communists that don't give a sh*t about your rights.
The diference being Hollywood wants to stop you from recording the signal after it leaves your reciever but before it gets to your TV.. I can't see this flying myself because of the installed base but the guys with money seem to think they can make it work.
What you all don't know is that secretly this whole Digital Television encryption and watermarking biz has been sponsored by Tv Turnoff.org. By ensuring that all future television becomes a pain in the ass watch, they are finally able to get everybody turn off ther tv sets.
13 year old white supremacists are shitty web designers.
The average SUV driving, my favorite sports team is whoever is winning, Starbucks drinking, windows using, Average Joe is going to switch to digital when the media tells them to.
Terribly OT, but this made me realize that growing up as a Mets fan probably prepared me to become a Linux user!
- - - -
The real Tetsujin 28 is a giant robot.