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Longhorn to Require Monitor-Based DRM
Mr_Silver writes "Engadget has an interesting article regarding a new feature in Longhorn entitled PVP-OPM (Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management) which detects the capabilities of the display devices you are using and manages how (and if at all) content is sent to it. In short, this means that if Longhorn detects that your monitor is not "secure" enough, then your premium video content won't play on it until you buy one that is. Who gets to decide? The content providers of course." From the article: "So what will happen when you try to play premium content on your incompatible monitor? If you're "lucky", the content will go through a resolution constrictor. The purpose of this constrictor is to down-sample high-resolution content to below a certain number of pixels. The newly down-sampled content is then blown back up to match the resolution of your monitor. This is much like when you shrink a JPEG and then zoom into it. Much of the clarity is lost. The result is a picture far fuzzier than it need be."
Bad news for Microsoft, good news for other operating systems.
From the article:
You don't think Apple is going to do this too? What will happen with Linux though? With Linux making inroads into set top boxes there will be some solution for Linux, though I don't think it will make its way to the desktop (legally).
Living room SDTV or EDTV monitors can display 720x480 (in NTSC or PAL60 territories) or 720x576 (in PAL50 or SECAM territories) tops, and the constrictor is said to kick in only at resolutions of 720 lines or higher. Most newer HDTV monitors have HDCP, which allows for digital restrictions management.
But still, ye cannae stop the analog hole.
GNUstep is a development platform, not a desktop environment. There are some quite nice desktop environment projects based on GNUstep though, and the Nesedah Cameleon theme created for Étoilé looks very nice (and has been subject to very strict usability review).
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Video encryption in real time is doable, but how will they protect the LCD matrix? I'm genuinely curious.
Be sure to read that second link in the summary as well. Looks like they have the same thing planned for audio too! DRM'd speakers, anyone?
I mod down all the "free iPod"-sig losers.
Wouldn't this just be done at video card or motherboard level or more likely software level? I'm assuming it will still have a standard output to any generic monitor, the average person wouldn't upgrade to a new monitor for a new OS.
Actually from the microsoft white paper:
>PVP-UAB provides the last internal link in the Longhorn content protection chain, to ensure that the premium video content reliably makes it from the Longhorn Protected Environment to being rendered on the card without a copy of the content being stolen.
So it's not a monitor thing, and the article writer appears to be a dumbass.
From this page, Protected User Mode Audio (PUMA) will do exactly that as it (and I quote) "provides a safer environment for audio playback, as well as checking that the enabled outputs are consistent with what the content allows".
In addition, Protected Audio Path (PAP) is "a future initiative under investigation for how to provide encryption of audio over user accessible buses." which sounds equally ominous.
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Actually, no. Only if you want to use the Secure Computing platform built in to Longhorn. This "feature" is part of Microsoft's Next-Generation Secure Computing Base. Essentially they are putting into place a framework that will provide a secure channel from keyboard to OS to monitor that runs in a protected bubble from the non-secure OS/apps/hardware. Longhorn will use a protected kernel "shell" in which DRM-enabled applications can run without interference (or being touched by) applications or non-DRM-enabled hardware running in the non-secure OS portion.
The videocard tech they are talking about here is ostensibly to prevent things like screen-scraping or intercepting video output. The goal is to provide a secure portion of OS that is inviolate from bootup and has secured pathways for data to travel. Think of it as Uber-root or a chroot'd OS partition that include hardware.
Using this secure channel is optional. You are not forced to use it. You can run all the aps you want, you can run it on your old hardware. However, the NGSCB is there should you need... and provided you have the hardware that supports it.
Now, certainly this feature has the *IIA's drooling. The theory is sound but the actual use and implementation can be (and probably will be) abused.
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Something may be described as "The Business" pronounced "Biz-Niss" hence "Bees Knees" or "The Dog's Bollocks" or "The Mutt's Nuts" all pretty much mean something is good.
Alright bloke.
Hi. 1998 called. They want their DRM paranoia back.
Windows Media Player already prevents DRMed content from being output to a digital source.
Apple did not create AAC. (Dolby Labs did) AAC does not have DRM. (Apple's DRM only applies to content from their store, not all AAC files.) Apple could easily apply its DRM to pretty much any codec.
Saying that AAC is related to content protection at all is just pure unmitigated bullshit. I'm starting to think you don't know what you're talking about.
Apple has not licensed its DRM to anyone, and there is no DRM in the system itself except for its own products (specifically the iTunes Music Store.) I think the chances of the Monitors pref pane ever having a "security" tab are nil. Go sell your FUD elsewhere.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
http://www.spatz-tech.de/spatz/dvi_magic.htm
Magic de-HDCPed DVI. Completely illegal in the USA thanks to the DMCA, but the rest of the world can enjoy our content at full resolution.
But will it look like shit? Or will it look "good enough", like a standard TV?
Most people can't tell the difference between HD and ED, and many can't tell the difference between HD and SD. Most people aren't videophiles. If it looks "good enough" to them, why should they care?
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To an extent - however, all the music released under RIAA affiliated labels that I am interested I purchase used - for a much cheaper price. The CDs are usually good quality, and I rip it to my computer anyway (as do most of my friends - very rarely do they play straight from their original CDs). I can get 5 CDs of my favorite music for about 30 bucks at stores like Slackers.
I will agree that it does take more effort, but the trade off is well worth it, in my opinion.
I guess I will concede regarding my point on societal apathy regarding the subject of DRM hardware. However, I still see it as a problem getting people educated on the subject. Maybe I just lack faith in society :)
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
>Linux UI sucks. And the main reason is because it is kinda based around windows
didn't know there was a "Linux UI". Are you referring to KDE? There are alternative window systems, Linux is not tied to one specific user interface.
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
I believe GP was refering to vLc...
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No they won't. Not even the /. readers go out of their way to avoid proprietary implementations of things that don't need to be there. Lots of them use proprietary software (Microsoft Windows and MacOS X, most notably) and patent-encumbered formats (such as MP3, as you mentioned) instead of technically superior Ogg Vorbis which is not encumbered and is available to everyone freely. Most DVD viewers I know have no idea what region coding is, much less how to disable or alter region coding on their DVD players.
/. readers, there's no reason to believe it won't work on less adept mass audiences.
It's a matter of convincing users that some nifty feature comes with the system and taking on these restrictions (if they're mentioned at all) are the only way to get those features.
This is the path by which users are being lured away from pursuing their software freedom and if it works on the most technically-adept
Digital Citizen
I'd guess either because your friends also have geekish tendancies, or because you have explained to them, right? Joe Sixpack doesn't know any better, and only has an iPod as they were the thing to own a few months back.
the popularity of the service cannot be viewed as an acceptance of DRM (since it can be removed).
I disagree, at a guess I'd say the vast majority of the iTunes files out there belong to non-tech-literate people, who don't even realise you can get round the encyption. Computers are black-box to them, the believe what they are told. "These files are protected to ensure your rights" sounds good, and they leave it at that.
The popularity of the service is only a view on how god-damm good Apples marketing dept is. :-)
Why the hell should I buy a new monitor? My current one works perfectly. I have the hardware now but someone else is going to effectively break it for me. There is no plus side. there is only a down side, that's why we're discussing it.
tell application Quicktime
fullscreen
end tell
Should do it. Or use VLC if you want. The latest version (might still be a beta) works great under Tiger.
Also from engadget: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000230050640
A bit expensive of course, but proves the theory. I think Steve Jobs even said on stage (maybe at D a couple of years ago) that DRM is only a stop gap. If people want to get stuff uncracked it can happen. Everything is crackable. Unless you start working on quantum algorithms you're not going to create something a computer can't deduce with enough time. Not to mention, the layering of software and hardware - (example, the TCP/IP stack sits on top of the networking stack. The window manager stack sits on top of the display stack etc.) you're always going to be able to override some library somewhere.