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Intertrust Plans Universal DRM System

Posted by michael on from the one-drm-system-to-bind-them-all dept.

Rushmore and others wrote in with news that Intertrust, which has a large DRM patent portfolio, is planning a universal DRM scheme for consumer electronics.

14 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Phew.. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    That's good, I was worried that this fancy-pants DRM thing wasn't going to take off.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. More info on intertrust by junkymailbox · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those interested:

    Intertrust holds alot of United States patents. Those are listed at the USPTO office

    They also have a patent litigation against Microsoft covered by Slashodot earlier

  3. Unbelieveable... by insmod_ex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...I pay $50 a month for satellite and I cant even record any TV. Thats bullshit.

    1. Re:Unbelieveable... by grub · · Score: 5, Insightful


      I pay $50 a month for satellite and I cant even record any TV.

      Cancel your satellite and be sure to tell them why you're cancelling it. Or keep it. Either way, you're voting with your wallet, it's up to you to decide how you'll vote.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    2. Re:Unbelieveable... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For $50 a month you can buy lots of good secondhand books and even a beer to go with them.

  4. Er, consumer? by DarkBlackFox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "DRM is an accelerator which will boost digital sales of media, because it will convince media companies their content is protected. It should not be a competitive weapon," he added.

    Err.... Last time I checked, sales were more dependant on the consumer than the peddler. I'd hope it's more important to convince consumers their right to use what they are investing in isn't in jeopardy.

  5. Stable Door... by nick_davison · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anyone else get the feeling the horse has left the stable, walked down the street, gone in to an electronics store, bought an IPOD and got the hell out of town already?

    The problem is that there are perfectly good alternatives without DRM technology. Why would anyone by something new that restricts their existing options? Even worse, why would a consumer pay the extra $x for their media player to buy the rights from a DRM patents company?

    Perhaps it's time companies stopped chasing after the music DRM market, let it go, and simply learned their lessons for the still [largely] unfought movie market?

    1. Re:Stable Door... by Isca · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The bad thing is that companies such as this one are positioning themselves for the next round of laws, the ones where they say it's illegal to purchase any new device that does not confirm to the DRM standards.

      Sure, there will be people who can get around whatever restrictions, but if DRM is built into everything, it becomes harder for the avg joe to get around them.

      Most people won't complain about these issues if it comes slowly... first, the broadcast flag will be used very very sparingly... then a little more, except that they'll sell that tv show to you through your cablebox at 3:00 am in the morning when you want to see it--- then pretty soon, that will be the format for everything.

      The good news is that anything you ever want to see will be available for a cheap price (because of competition).

      The bad news is that anything you ever want to see will be available for a cheap price (nothing will be free, except infomercials).

      -chris

  6. What is the object of DRM systems? by johndiii · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Copy protection did not work for computer software. A sufficiently determined individual can always defeat such a system. And distribute the results. Yes, they can be prosecuted using the DMCA, but that will not stop it.

    In this case, it is more instructive to look to the profit motive. When they implement a new DRM system, they can sell us new CD and DVD players, and new CDs of all the old music that we've bought (twice, maybe) already. The "replace your old LPs" profit center was a huge one, until it was knocked down by (1) DVDs and (2) saturation. Now, they are hoping to recreate it through technical means.

    --
    Floating face-down in a river of regret...and thoughts of you...
  7. Universal = Better? by geekychic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For the company, doesn't diversity in standards actually help them protect their materials? It seems that having only one standard would just concentrate everyone's efforts on breaking it and therefore would get cracked faster.

  8. This is great news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This means we'll only have one format to crack, instead of four hundred! :)

  9. I love this Logic... by jpmoney · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "DRM is an accelerator which will boost digital sales of media, because it will convince media companies their content is protected. It should not be a competitive weapon," he added.

    So let me get this straight:

    1. Companies encrypt their data
    2.
    3. Digital sales of media are "boosted"

    They're leaving out the entire... well... consumer and adoption step that I think is a bit important. Just because they build it, it doesn not mean that people will come. Didn't they learn anything during the .com boom?

    --
    unf.
  10. Lack of diversity will lessen protection by Cash+Mitchell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unless the given DRM technology is truly unbreakable (probably not), having one standard widely implemented will probably be worse protection for content owners. It is similiar to genetic diversity in a population. The benefit of having many different content protection schemes is that if any one is broken, the others will most likely be unaffected. Thus by adopting one imperfect DRM standard, they may in fact be greatly lessening the ability to protect their content.

  11. Prediction: DRM will continue to hurt the economy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article includes a quote of what has been accepted wisdom, accepted unchallengingly by regulators (see the commentary to the FCC regulations concerning the so-called Broadcast Flag, for example, which accepts at face value that DRM will boost sales, without in any manner examining that assumption):

    "DRM is an accelerator which will boost digital sales of media, because it will convince media companies their content is protected. It should not be a competitive weapon," he added."

    This quote is simply wrong. DRM has already damaged sales of hardware and content. I predict that increased DRM will not be an accelerator but will continue instead to be a de-accelerator and drain on the economy which will reduce digital sales of media.

    "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." -- Edward R. Murrow