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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."
isn't this a case of indirect industrial price-fixing? by forcing you to buy a DRM-enabled monitor, they can easily collude and charge a, say, 20% premium, over a standard LCD.
Another reason why Tiger and Leopard makes Longhorn look long-in-the-tooth ^^
Actually, aalib is pretty good. http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/gallery/ I remember seeing a demo video from them. And it was an actual video, their renderer displayed it in ASCII art. With sound.
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Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
I doubt they have monitors or video cards that can detect, say, a simple splitter or repeater. It's the sort of thing a third-year EE student can build (fourth year for digital signals).
It will stop some casual piracy, you know, the kind companies and congressmen say they don't care about. Mostly it will get Microsoft a piece of the monitor market without the need to develop useful features or compete on price.
When DRM requires the purchase of new hardware just for things to work like they used to, then thats when it is going to turn off even the clueless consumer who normally wouldn't care. When it starts biting into people's wallets they always stand up and take notice.
In my case, if my monitor is not "secure" enough, finding a replacement might not be so easy. My monitor is an older CRT that presents a very high quality picture. I use this because I dislike the ghosting and viewing angle issues that, while much improved from how they used to be, are still present in LCD monitors.
The problem is that it is hard to find a decently priced, truly good CRT anymore because most of the industry is switching over to flat panel production. They literally don't make them like they used to anymore.
I'm guessing that this technology is just geared towards people using video outs to TVs and Tivo like devices, but I really don't like the idea of being potentially forced to buy a new monitor just for an operating system. That is pretty rediculous.
You are who you are, let no one tell you different. But, never close your mind to a new point of view.
Do you honestly think it will be possible to purchase and watch content on a linux machine? Do you think the movie industry is going to give you something playable on your un-DRMed box? You might pirate it.
Of course, we all know that making bits not copyable is like making water not wet. But I think you underestimate the MPAA's lobbying capabilities. I fully expect it to be illegal to posses or discuss wet water any day now.
My only question on this is, what happens to the old windows users? Let's say that there's some content that I want to view online using Win98/2000. What happens to me then? Am I FORCED to upgrade? I know being 'forced' and 'having to' upgrade are different things. Having to upgrade is when software technology has surpassed your current level. Being forces is when someone provides content within the public domain and you have to buy something else just to make it work.
Under this scheme, though, you are screwed by the time you get to see what services are out there. You buy Longhorn, you've just given control of your machine to more than content producers. You've handed control of your machine to a third party - be it Hi-Def content producers or Microsoft itself. You've given someone else the right to redefine *your* rights under copyright law and to control to which materials you even have access - now DRM becomes censorship.
This may not be how DRM starts out but it certainly is where it *can* lead.
What about my right to make a backup of digital content I've licensed for viewing? My DVD collection is a prime example - Jack Valenti once said something akin to "digital lasts forever" but the only reason that is even remotely true is because I can find a copy of every movie I own online and burn a copy if I chose. It certainly is not because DVDs last forever - a few scratches (and if you have young children in the house this is very easily done) and you are done.
This has been said before but I'll say it again because it is appropriate: content producers need to decide: are you licensing content or are you selling a product? If you are licensing content then you are telling me to what limits I can use your content - the medium upon which I place your content should not matter. If you are selling a product, then I can do whatever I want with the product as long as I do not violate the copyrights upon the content.
Remember, among your rights as a consumer are the rights to time- and space-shift the content you are entitled to possess (be it via explicit relationship defined by the exchange of money for goods and services or be it via the implied relationship defined by trading your time and eyeballs watching advertisements).
In general, as a software developer and an individual who would like to make a living as a writer someday, I understand the debate over intellectual property/copyright and DRM. I understand why content producers are concerned. However, you cannot have it both ways. DRM tries to let the content producers usurp or otherwise limit *your* rights in favor of their own and that is a very bad thing.
What the planet really needs is more people throwing CRTs into the garbage. Way to go, Microsoft,
for making it happen!
If only we could charge them for the environmental damage they're going to cause. =/
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
Like this?
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000230050640/
Not software, perhaps, but it will get the job done.
SPAM
Actually, I think TV is the one thing that average Americans do care about. You can take away their civil liberties, you can expand copyrights till the cows come home, but if you fuck with their TV they will rise up (off the couch) and destroy you.
You might find it interesting to know that there are already physical -- that's right, as in not digital or content -- consumer products that attach this kind of IP bullshit. I'm a weekend woodworker when I'm not hacking, and one popular tool for make dovetail joints is the Stots TemplateMaster dovetail jig. (here's a good definition if you don't know what a dovetail joint is) You can think of this tool as a "meta jig" - it allows you to create dovetail joint jigs of many varieties, length, etc. You then use the jigs you create to make dovetail joints.
When you open the box, there's a neat little notice in there; they're kind enough to post it on the web - http://www.stots.com/agree.htm. It's even a shrink-wrap agreement:
"Removing the seal from the product indicates your agreement to be bound by the terms of the agreement."
Here's where they tell you that you didn't really "buy" the tool, you just bought the right to use it for a while:
"This is a license, not a sales agreement, between you, the end user, and Stots Corporation ("Stots"). Stots grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable (except as provided below) license to use the Make-It-RightTM Template Master TM ("Product") attached to the agreement seal and also to the manufacturing process ("Process") described in the accompanying documentation in accord with the terms set forth in this License Agreement."
Some of the assinine conditions:
Want to use it in your basement AND in your garage? Tough. OR - want to lend it to a friend? Tough.
"You may: a. use the Product (or any of the working templates produced using the Product or Process) in only one shop by the original purchaser only."
Want to lend, not the original tool, but a jig made using the tool with the wood you bought, to a friend? Tough.
"You may not: a. allow individuals that did not purchase the original Product use the Product or any templates produced using the Product or Process described"
Don't like stickers on your tools? Think you might use the box for another purpose and scribble over the original grahics on the box? Tough.
"You may not... d. remove any proprietary notices, labels, or marks on the Product, documentation, and containers"
Say you try using it for a week and decide it's not the tool for you. Think you could just put it up for sale on eBay? Get real. Remember...
"Stots grants to you a non-exclusive, non-transferable (except as provided below) license" (for what it's worth, the provision below says that you can transfer your rights with Stot's written permission and subject to the transferee's acceptance of the same terms and conditions you agreed to [by opening the box]).
Anyone who doesn't care, which is going to be a lot of people. They'll buy a new PC, which will merely happen to come with this kind of restrictive DRM. But it'll come with an appropriate monitor too, so they'll never notice.
Everyone buys CDs. Only Pirates (and possibly Ninjas) copy CDs for the illegal purpose of distribution. So Microsoft introduced DRM to Media Player. After all, only a few geeks would notice the limitations and the vast majority would never notice as they simply ripped CDs to their PC and were happy with it.
Only so many people refused to use Media Player, refused to convert to WMA, refused to thus buy WMA supported portable media players, that Microsoft had to rethink and rethink fast.
Now Media Player comes with a config option to turn off DRM if it doesn't suit you. And Microsoft lost the war (or at least five years of it) to MP3, WinAmp, iTunes and iPods.
The truth is that the average Joe does care. Most probably don't really care that much about being able to put files up on Kazaa - but they do care about being able to rip their DVD to the PC then copy that file to their laptop and from there to their portable video player. They want to simply enjoy their content, maybe copy off to their TiVo or take a copy on the road - nothing special - and systems that prevent that will frustrate them.
My guess is that we'll see history repeat itself. The hardcore crowd will hate it but they're such a minority that it doesn't matter. The real issue will be the mainstream. That 10% who use Firefox, the ones who'll move over to MP3 instead of WMA in order to simply do what they legally want. They won't be the majority but they don't have to be. All it takes is a healthy enough minority and Microsoft's monopoly is threatened. To Microsoft's way of thinking, unless they can squeeze every other competitor out, they can't build their next round on top of this round's assumptions. And so, quietly, Microsoft will capitulate just like they did on Media Player - and add an option to disable this ridiculousness in order to get their monopoly back.
It's a balancing act. Microsoft want their monopoly. To do that, they need the content produced in their format. To encourage that, they have to pander to the content producers. The problem is when most content producers are home users ripping their DVDs. At that point no one uses their player and so, whether corporate producers love the DRM or not, they're not going to waste money on a format no one views. Thus pandering to the producers matters somewhat but not exclusively.
Well, One thing's for certain, I am definatley NOT getting Longhorn, unless they make some major changes. I am very pleased with my Samsung Syncmaster 955DF, and am also content with my hard drive not 'automatically defragging in the background'. Yes, Microsoft, I know how to fucking make a schedule for defragmenting.
Please, Microsoft, leave maintenence to the users. It's why I have a job. So:
1. Don't take my ability to use my current monitor away from me.
2. Don't take my gaming performance away from me by defragging my drive all the fucking time.
3. Don't take my paycheck away from me.
-gjr
That's what this is all about.
If Longhorn is a bloated mess and comes with utter sillyness such as "monitor DRM" that requires you to buy a new monitor (remember the MS keyboard? Keyboard manufacturers were crawling up MS' ass to be able to build and sell them) then the hardware vendors will hail Longhorn as the best OS ever. And be happy to sell you the great hardware you need to honor this OS.
That's what this is all about.
I hope they screw this one up.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca