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Nikon Responds to Encryption Claims
ader writes "In a rare response to public complaints, Nikon has released a statement clarifying the use of encrypted white balance information in the NEF raw data from its digital cameras. They point out that this 'proprietary' format is accessible through the use of their 'proprietary' SDK, which is freely available to 'bona fide software companies' on written application. In other words: open source coders can butt out."
Why are they doing the proprietary bit in the first place? Wouldn't they want their product to be as widely useable as possible?
This has been / is being discussed quite a lot on various Nikon-related boards. Unfortunately, Nikon is one of the least consumer-responsive companies I've ever come acrosss, to the point where even "Nikon Pros" - pros who exclusively use Nikon gear and evangelize for the company for free - are often not heard by the company leadership.
Unfortunately, this would seem to suggest that Nikon will be even less willing to listen to open source developers...unless they're loud enough to raise a stink in the mainstream media to some extent. Nikon's announcement about this issue is proof that bad publicity gets their attention...let's hope that there's enough volume to the (well reasoned, intelligent) complaints from the open source community.
I know I'd rather have some options when it comes to software. I use Nikon's commercial software, Nikon Capture, and it's very, very good...but competition is always a good thing.
No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
Instead of encryption, it'd be useful to have the camera digitally sign images, so you can have traceability from an image back to the camera that made it, "proving" that no photoshop magic happened inbetween.
Most Nikon DSLRs will save as NEF or JPG, but the quality of the image one can produce using NEF-aware software is superior to even an uncompressed TIF because the NEF contains extensive additional data about shooting conditions (think EXIF, but better) in addition to the raw data from the CCD.
Most serious Nikon shooters I've talked with shoot using NEF (i.e., RAW), archive those, and work with their images as TIFFs after using a good NEF-aware converter like Nikon's Nikon Capture for post-processing, printing, etc.
No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
It is interesting with companies like AMD, Nvidia or HP Printers etc who have made competitive advantage out of catering (to some extent at least) to GNU/Linux/BSD and other ubergeeks. I suspect the average person who supports Free Software buys way more than the average amount of hardware and gadgets. We also read things like this and vote with our feet. At some point the balance will swing enough to make a real difference to the profit line - if we are not at that point already. The days of begging for drivers are past; the time of punishment for lazy manufacturers has begun. Seems no-one told Nikon to flee from the coming wrath..
My little Linux and tech blog
Fewer than 1/100th of slashdotters who would have gone to that link from the main article will use this one, so it's kinda pointless, but here is is anyway...
How to get a Nikon Software Developers Kit (SDK)
In other words, they are NOT doing this for their own benefit or to create lock-in or control of how images taken on their cameras may be used, but are doing it for camera owners, or so they say. Seems a bit bogus here...
A nikon owner myself. Get to make some recommendations at work about a camera, and a chance to move some dollars in a different direction. Actually think enough technical people making recommendations could make a difference.
My guess is that Nikons definition of 'bona fide software companies' is 'software companies able to pay a lot for their proprietary SDK'.
Probably Nikon thinks that Adobe is very 'bona fide', and thus has to pay a high price for their SDK. It is likely Adobe saw this high price as extertion, and refused to pay up. When Adobe told Nikon that their proprietary format was already known to the public some stupid lawyer at Nikon probably threathened Adobe with DMCA action if Adobe did not pay for Nikons SDK.
Of course this is all speculation, and I don't care much about what actually happened.
What I care about is Nikons attempt to keep their formats locked up. Nikon does not seem to realize that they have a lot of good competition.
For me the conclusion is clear: No Nikon cameras for me or any of the customers using software we produce.
I am a firm believer in consumer reviews. Meaning, when I am about to buy something I attempt to find people who own it, eavesdrop on people talking about the item in retail stores, read the online boards, etc.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been in Fry's Electronics (or some other store) talking to a customer about something and they left with a different (better) product than they came in for. The reason is that I don't work for Fry's and have nothing tangible to gain no matter what they buy. I simply like seeing "good tech" survive, and so I thoroughly evangelize companies that treat me well. I do the opposite for compoanies that treat me badly. I can say for sure that IWILL has lost more than 10 sales because of me. IWILL XA-100 had a 40% failure rate (at the local Fry's), and they did not step up to the plate and recall the damned things. I got stuck with one, which was traded out for two others in unopened boxes with no success.
I have a feeling Nikon is going to lose sales, because now I can use the "I" word that scares Joe Sixpack so much. "Incompatible"... I'll also use another word that is designed to scare Mr. Sixpack, "Proprietary".... I can then go on about how my Olympus takes wonderful pictures, and is "compatible" and "not proprietary" and will work with all kinds of software. Heck, I didn't install the Olympus software, and even lost the disk with the software on it and can still get my pictures. And then mention that most other vendors are open and just work, and express puzzlement at why Nikon hates it's customers...
This generally works. While I am aware that I may only stop 5 or ten sales, if 10 people did this, it would be 50 to 100 sales, etc, etc. Furthermore people buying the non-proprietary item who are happy with it, will warn their friends away from that vendor. This is viral in nature. It does work, however it is dependant on how many people take part.
This vendor screw consumer atitude really bends me out of shape...
Oh BTW, my sister in law's purchased new Ford Focus has transmission problems at 38,000 miles. It also has had the brake system recalled, twice. Currently it eats brakes every 10,000 miles. This is just the beginning of the list. Since Ford has been very little help, they are seriously considering painting the car yellow, and writing the word "lemon" on it.
So software developers are terrified that Nikon will wield the DMCA scythe at them if they reverse engineer the white balance encryption algorithm? How would Nikon have any case when the content in question is owned by the creator, not Nikon?
To my thinking this is another clear application of interoptibility, so I don't see how the DMCA could apply especially given the ownership of the "protected content".
So, will that software run on any system I have? It looks to me like it only runs under Mac OS X, and Windows. That means, in order to run it at all, I have to invest several hundred dollars in a copy of XP and many hours of my time re-partitioning a software RAID system just to run it.
Sorry, if you can't tell me how your stuff works, you're not really selling it to me, it's just on loan until you decide to stop providing service and support for it.
Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop
Actually if you read the DMCA closely you is not criminal to decrypt the data on your own photos - you are wing so *with* the authority of teh copyright holder. The problem is that it is criminal for anyone to "traffic" in any software or product that would enable you to do so. Anyone distributing GPL code to do so could go to prison for 5 years (10 years on a second offense).
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
My politeMy polite answer to Nikon: Fuck Off and Die. Don't ask for my rude answer...
I had been a Nikon user since mid 70's. When the D1 came out I waited a few months but eventually switched to Digital. I went through a D1 and a couple of D1x. Being both an artist and a geek, Nikon's position on its "proprietary" format infuriated me. I love to be able to tweak things. Its refusal to provide an SDK just made me want to switch away. I am a "bona-fide" developer but I did not want to make the request in the name of the company I work for. I wanted the SDK to tweak things. Many programs are out there now because of this sort of things. I did switch. Last November I dumped my entire pile of Nikon gear. 30 years of stuff all at once on eBay. Now I'm a happy camper Canon 1Ds MkII user. Nikon: Fuck off.
Just to be rebellious and show some faith in mankind, a google for 'Nikon' produces the two top news stories about this issue. A search for 'Nikon cameras' has a story about DMCA preventing Photoshop compatability in the first three. A a professional digital camera is an expensive piece of kit (at least to me) and I'd expect people to do a bit of research before they buy one. Maybe just maybe, people will hear the voices of many pissed off developers and question Nikon's direction. People can be frighteningly smart sometimes. I'm sure that some people in Nikon's marketing / PR department are having a pisser of a time right now.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.