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Welcome to the Future of DRM Media

Posted by timothy on from the and-no-sneaking-in-popcorn dept.

MrFancyPants writes "'DRM, digital rights management, is quite possibly the holy grail of the music and movie industry, allowing them to control exactly how DRM protected content is used, distributed and above all can be tracked right down to the individual end user.' Hardware Analysis reports on a horror story of someone picking up a DVD recently and having to go through an agonizing process of installing DRM-enabled applications to even get it to play on his computer. If this is what the future holds, you'd better think twice about buying DVDs and other media, as you're basically at the mercy of the producer."

7 of 734 comments (clear)

  1. More About DRM by the_mighty_$ · · Score: 3, Informative
    If you want all the details about DRM, you can find them here:

    http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june01/iannella/06iannell a.html

    and

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_manage ment
    --
    VI VI VI - the editor of the beast!
  2. Coralized link + Summary by perlionex · · Score: 5, Informative
    Coralized link of the article
    Coralized link of the DRM'ed T2 Extreme DVD

    Quick summary for all those too lazy to read the article:
    Content needed WMP9 with InterActual Player, which required a license, which could only be retrieved if you connected from US or Canada. And, the content could only be played for 5 days. Author concludes "Shame on you Artisan Home Entertainment Inc. and may this serve as a prime example of DRM at its worst."

    --
    Gan Family Homepage
  3. RTFA by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 4, Informative
    Read The Fucking Article. The person complaining wasn't trying to rip anything, and was in fact simply trying to use a product as it was intended to be used.

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
  4. RTFA by StateOfTheUnion · · Score: 3, Informative
    In this case, the solution is to use DVD Shrink and make a copy for yourself without all of that extra bullshit on it. There will ALWAYS be a software solution to this crap.

    The buyer already owned a regular copy of the film. He bought this version because it had a HD format copy of the film in WMV9 format, but this version was DRM'ed.

    If he DVD Shrink'ed the film, that would defeat the purpose of buying the better quality HD version.

  5. Re:ah, fvck 'em by Ubergrendle · · Score: 3, Informative

    You're still supporting Blockbuster's business model.

    1. Editing or forcing producers to make Blockbuster-friendly versions of films.
    2. Reinforcing the encrypted DVD business model...Blockbuster still pays for the rental DVDs, MPAA keeps producing them.
    3. Reinforcing Hollywood's trend of making Bruckheimer-esque crapulescant action films with recycled plots and oneliners.


    So even if I could condone a campaign of blatant copyright infringement, I would still oppose your behaviour as it reinforces existing business models which produce CRAP.

    --
    John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
  6. Re:self-correcting problem by tchuladdiass · · Score: 3, Informative

    Or, return the "defective" one in exchange for a new un-opened one, then return the un-opened box for a full refund.

  7. Re:self-correcting problem by alcmena · · Score: 3, Informative

    When I had to return a DVD that was cracked, the clerk at Best Buy cut open the one they were giving me probably to prevent this very thing.