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Consumer Electronics Companies Plan Common DRM Standard

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

Rinisari writes "'The world's four biggest consumer electronics companies have agreed to start using a common method to protect digital music and video against piracy and illegal copying, they said on Thursday,' begins a Reuters article on Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, and Sony's new alliance to establish interoperability and combat the evergrowing 'threat' to the music industry. The new alliance is to be called the 'Marlin Joint Development Association.'" The BBC's story on this issue is better, with quotes from several people.

6 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Now watch... by Rei · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They'll make it offer an advantage, obviously. They'll only release higher-fidelity content on their new DRM-protected system.

    That doesn't mean that the DRM will work that well, mind you. :)

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  2. Organised crime gangs!? by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Interesting

    He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy.

    I, and most peoiple I know who have acquired pirated material, got it from file sharing apps and IRC. Are these really considered "organised" crime gangs? Probably the first time I've ever been accused of being organised.

  3. Re:Now watch... by over_exposed · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah - great idea. Now the genius that cracked it gets a class-action lawsuit filed against him/her by ALL of the manufacturers that used it as opposed to a single company...

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    "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
  4. Anyone find the timing of the announcement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    just a bit suspicious that it comes out just after this news?

    But Sony's divisions were finally beginning to work together and share a common agenda, Mr Kutaragi said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo.

    "It's just starting," he said. "We are growing up."

    Sony officials have rarely publicly said the company's proprietary stance was mistaken.


    Now that we have drm in all the major personal tech manufacturers, it's safe for me to say, turn on the factories!

    ...Some timing, huh?


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  5. No Apple, No Microsoft... by rsborg · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Obmission of these two giants in the industry means that the four firms realize that:
    1. People want a single authentication mechanism
    2. WMA and Fairplay DRM are strong and they need to band together to have any impact
    3. They can't trust or rely on either MS or Apple to get what they want
    4. As the BBC article points out, it's all about profits.
    Unfortunately, for them, I feel that it's probably too little too late. Apple is dominant, and Microsoft has the rest. Perhaps they can get all those other sites (Walmart, Napster, BuyMusic) to switch to their DRM scheme, but so far, the only real formats supported in the industry are 1) unDRMed mp3, 2) m4p (fairplay/harmony), and 3) WMA.

    These guys are late to the game, and trying, desperately, to keep their ever-shrinking marketshare and margins by playing a game they don't know how to win. I wish them luck, but I forsee Sony adopting WMA or fairplay in a few years.

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  6. Re:Work around... by killjoe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There won't be a single standard. Did you notice which names are NOT on the list? MS and Apple, the two largest companies pushing their own DRM technologies. Also note the absence of content providors such as RIAA.

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