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Real DRM
Cinematique writes "C|Net is reporting that RealNetworks has released a format-independent Digital Rights Management software called Helix DRM. Real states that MP3, AAC, and even OGG can now be released with a DRM wrapper. And this is groundbreaking how? More importantly, do they expect content producers and consumers alike to really adopt this?"
I've successfully kept any and all Real software of my machine for two years now, and not felt the least bit sad about it.
At least on Windows machines, installing their software means you've installed a LOT of registry keys everywhere, plus you get several programs that default to starting with Windows.
Even uninstalling it leaves crap everywhere. And their ad-ridden players are massively annoying.
Quicktime is getting worse in the same way, but I'm more likely to download a Quicktime video than a Real one anyday.
So do whatever you want, Real. I'll be happily counting the days until your extinction.
How can they do this to OGG? I'm sure the GPL will then force them to disclose any information about whatever wrapping they do, which will leave them open so all other formats can be 'unwrapped'. I can't see them doing this, but maybe we should be a bit quiet about it, let it happen, then make them uncover everything.
Isn't it's licence supposed to keep it wide open?
Or is it so liberal that it lets anyone do anything they want with it?
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
If you check out Helix DRM's Specs, you find this gem:
"We recommend that you upgrade to the latest stable Linux 2.2.x kernel, which is available at kernel.org. We do not recommend using any Linux 2.3 or 2.4 kernels, because RealNetworks License Server has not been thoroughly tested with these newer kernels."
So we can expect 2.4 support around the time 2.8 comes out?
"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither!"
They did get real. They know that any "protection" they put on their "content" will be no more complex then ROT13. However they have the DMCA - doesnt matter if the DRM stuff is any good, as long as it's illegal to own or distribute a tool that can be used to break it. 90% of people that currently nab mp3's and divx's off edonkey wont when they have to go to the trouble of installing a non-DRM signed program-to-break-drm onto their computers. Especially when any efforts to do this will be reported to the FBI, department of religious purity, department of homeland security and Microsoft Marketting.
this the one place where its good not to have a standard? drm fragmentation is good.
I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
Real Has been dead to me since they released Realplayer G2. Realplayer 5 was reliable, simple, small, and unintrusive. Since they released G2, it's been a downward spiral of overbloat, Adware and Spyware.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
Hmmm. I'd say MP3 is popular because it's ubiquitous and can easily be had free-as-in-beer, not because it's open.
Random is the New Order.
we may have no other choice to obtain music other than enlightened artists who want to reach a different auidence.
:-)
here you go
turn off your radio, and get away from your CD's and kazaa..
sit down for 1 week and listen only to IUMA music and you will find that with a little bit of effort you can get completely away from RIAA music and listen to some really cool and good music.
you can do the same with the MPAA... watch only indie films. there are some really good producers and film-makers out there that are not in it to make a bajillion dollars. and yes the special effects are cheezy, but it's entertainment, if you are entertained, then it was successful
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Real has been moving toward this sort of thing for a long time. I don't know why anone sticks with them: their player is crap, they're just an obnoxious company, and they make it _really_ hard to download the free player.
But what about their open source initiative? Can one make a more tolerable player with that? (I tried sourceforge, but they're too busy for a search at the moment.)
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Why does everyone bitch about MS or Real when they add DRM to their player.. The ability to do DRM in the player doesn't do anything on its own; it's the content providers that are placing restrictions on their media. For all the flack MS Media Player 9 has gotten, I'm still able to rip non-DRMd WMA files if I choose. If Real didn't enable DRM, every content provider would just switch to using MS for everything. Blame the content industry...Real and MS are just playing along with what the media companies want.
The GPL has "thurbage," the hassle factor. Hyperkinetic 40 year-olds still stuck on campus with ultra-left ideas.
I use open source despite the GPL. The BSD license makes the most sense, it says, "do what you want."
If any little GPL weasel came by and told me what to do, I'd beat him up.
I wonder how long it takes until someone gets the idea of grabbing the sound and storing it again without any restrictions.
I agree with this 100%. The answer for "content owners" is to adopt an economic model which folks accept and go along with. This doesn't mean I get everything for free (proponents are not dealing with reality)... however the process of aquisition and use of "content" needs to be reasonable.
My wife just paid $18 for a CD soundtrack for one song (she likes Paul Simon, not the rest of the disk including P.Diddy and Bow Wow). This is outrageous and has the consumer subsidizing crap for the opportunity to listen to what they enjoy.
When I pointed out she could have dl'd just the one song her response was that this would deprive PS from his share of the royalties as well. I think most folks are like her, willing to compensate the artists they choose but upset at providing welfare for the rest of the dross.
Being an optimist I believe that eventually "DRM" will evolve into a system which allows folks to be fairly compensated for the work they do. The situation now is that there is a huge incentive for the middlemen to do anything to protect their margins.
jrp
I don't download the player from real anymore, I just let netscape install the one that ships with it. IIRC, when I installed Netscape 7.01 the other day, it installed a non-RealOne version of their player. I do agree with the grandPARENT though: Real is getting annoying as hell. Plus, I just love when it goes out on it's own to the web. I just re-installed my system a couple weeks ago and this morning both real and google toolbar got busted by ZoneAlarm for looking for a net connection. At least WMP has the decency to only do it when it's running...
Spread the RC luvin'
As a content producer, I cannot understand why anyone would choose to use a Real codec to distribute work. The quality is so poor that studio-produced material ends up looking like the work of half a dozen chimpanzees after a ten-day heroin binge. Thank you, no.
Just as important: if I'm producing content for distribution, my client has to be able to view it, which means they need a player, right? Burying the free version of the Real player in some obscure corner of a badly-designed web page has to be the most astonishingly suicidal move I've ever seen a company make. Whether Real chooses to believe it or not, Real Player is competing for the same market segment as Windows Media Player, and WMP is both effectively free and transparently available as far as Windows users are concerned.
Encasing poorly-encoded media in a DRM wrapper is just one more significant barrier between users and their ability to view content.
That just doesn't make much business sense to me.
Karma