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Blu-Ray Facing Delays Caused by DRM Squabbling

Tomo Hiratsuka writes "Disney, Warners et al, the companies behind the AACS content management system, apparently can't get their act together to complete the standard they wish to impose on Blu-ray. The result? Pioneer has the first Blu-ray drive for PCs ready for market next month but is openly admitting the DRM issue may force it to delay." From the article: "The inability of the companies behind the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) content management system to complete their work has already caused Toshiba to put launch plans for its HD DVD player on hold. AACS is made up of a number of companies from the electronics and content industries. The group's founders include IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Disney and Warner Bros."

26 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. Welcome! by RingDev · · Score: 4, Funny

    I for one welcome our new indecisive DRM overlords.

    Err, am I welcoming the indecisiveness of our DRM overlords?

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    1. Re:Welcome! by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, I for one welcome the indecisiveness of our would-be DRM overlords.

      It amusing that the greed of the big media corporations which kickstarted this whole mess to begin with, is the same exact thing that is keeping them from developing effective DRM. All the shifting alliances as all the tech companies try and lock the content providers into their DRM scheme, and all of them fight to make sure their DRM doesn't really work with anyone elses. It'll be a moot point before they get their crap together.

      Ahhh, the sweet spectacle of infighting among ones enemies.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  2. Production - by Ruff_ilb · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now that these companies are actually producing products instead of touting them on paper, will they realize (falsely or not) that it's not worth pushing DRM? Or will they continue delaying a DRM release at the expense of new, otherwise helpful, tech?

    --
    http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
  3. Gee... by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean my ability to buy into an intentionally crippled format has been delayed?

    Darn.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  4. Title should say it affects Blueray and HD-DVD by four2five · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know the excerpt mentions it but both formats will be delayed by this, title seems a bit misleading.

    --
    -or so you'd think
  5. Good! Ship it WITHOUT DRM then! by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe if Pioneer sold enough of them, there'd be such an uproar when the DRM'd players come out that they'd be rejected completely by consumers. Or, at least, it would wake up more people to the dangers of DRM.

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    1. Re:Good! Ship it WITHOUT DRM then! by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Maybe if Pioneer sold enough of them, there'd be such an uproar when the DRM'd players come out that they'd be rejected completely by consumers. Or, at least, it would wake up more people to the dangers of DRM.

      I'm sure they would love to, but they probably can't budge an inch because of agreement by contractual obligations.

      The mafia must be totally in awe of these people.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Good! Ship it WITHOUT DRM then! by DrEldarion · · Score: 3, Informative

      Unfortunately, Pioneer can't do that, because they don't control any media powerhouses. If someone like Sony were to decide to go DRM-less (not a chance in hell, but just for discussion's sake...), they could put out both the hardware AND the media without DRM. Then, when the DRM players came out, people's old media wouldn't work, and that would create the uproar. Without that media link, though, the Pioneer player wouldn't have anything to play, because the media companies are the ones that want the DRM.

  6. Idiots! by Brian+Stretch · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should decide which copy protection system they want DVDJon to break and get it over with. Geeze.

    Or they could skip the crypto crap and save everyone some time and money, but that just seems too obvious.

  7. Just to make it perfect... by LurkerML · · Score: 5, Funny

    someone should sue them about patent infringments after they agreed on something.

  8. Not a surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The film industry has no real desire to jump into HD-DVD/Bluray. They won't be making much money until player costs drop significantly and the HD market is better established. They have the DRM leverage over manufacturers and will string this out as long as possible to get as strict as possible protection.

    1. Re:Not a surprise by FunFactor100 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Meanwhile the movie studios will continue to put out non-HD DVD's that can be cracked, ripped, and posted online. 95% of the world won't care if the movie is HD or not, they're happy with the current DVD quality. Most HDTV owners don't even make use of HDTV signals anyways, does anyone think they care about buying HD DVD's?

  9. Doormat? by rob_squared · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If we're welcoming our new overlords, does that make us doormats?

    Anyway, I wish companies would realize that DRM is not the answer to copyright infringement, there is no "answer." The best way to lessen the problem is to lessen the cost to the end user, and don't introduce new formats!

    A lot of people bought DVD copies of their VHS tapes because of higher quality and longer life spans, will BlueRay be enough of an advance?

    --
    I don't get it.
  10. There is no such thing as DRM by McAlt+0178 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it can be read, it can be copied...

  11. Get Your DRM Right Here.... by mpapet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sadly, I really don't think DRM will bother the unwashed masses. Why?

    -Most people have been trained to buy their information. Along the way free information is derided as just that, "free" and all it suggests.
    -It will "just work."
    -If the quality is good enough, they'll gladly lose what freedom is left in exchange for a prettier picture. Most have gladly done that already with iTunes. So the audio battle is over and DRM has won. Your video is next.
    -Even when someone breaks it, it just won't put a big dent in the corporation's bottom line.
    -The Entertainment corps get to drag the poor guy through court as an "example to all." Thereby reinforcing the mindset that information should be owned, lock, stock and barrel.

    While I understand that DRM and OSS are idealogically polar opposites, there should be an OSS DRM. Then there would at least be some transparency. Not to mention a generally better system.

    --
    http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
  12. Details of the problem by LightningBolt! · · Score: 5, Funny

    According to the article:

    "IBM has accused Sony of failing to complete a portion of the code responsible for decryption of the video stream. 'The code they delivered for factoring the product of two large prime numbers is [extremely] slow,' said a spokesman, 'but we're confident they'll come through with a solution soon.'"

    --
    Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
  13. The fly in the ointment... by tkrotchko · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is that they've got to convince people to switch.

    As sony has found out, asking people to give up a non-DRM format for something with DRM is a tough sell (as in SACD replacing Audio CD).

    --
    You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
    1. Re:The fly in the ointment... by pla · · Score: 3, Informative

      as in SACD replacing Audio CD

      I disagree. SACD nicely commented on the audio industry's real delusion... Namely, they seem to seriously believe that most of us sit at home in our sound-booth/home-theatre ne living-room, and play our music and movies on a dedicated player in a dedicated environment.

      I seriously believe they attribute the success of iTunes to people sticking a computer in that same "home sound booth" model, rather than accepting the cold hard reality that 99.9% of us listen to music:
      A) in the car
      B) at work (mostly through our computers), and
      C) while jogging/waiting to see a doctor/waiting for a train/etc.

      That has held true for decades, and the industry still doesn't "get" it. The rise of modern portable large-capacity MP3/AAC/whatever players hasn't changed anything but the need to change discs/tapes/stations.


      As for SACD... First of all, following the above mini-rant, nothing supports it except for what amount to standalone home-media-center modular units. Yeah, someone will probably point out a Sony/Philips portable player or even a CD-ROM drive that supports it. I've never seen one. I've never even seen it mentioned as a selling point while shopping for either of those two products specifically. Second, although it has theoretically better (high-end) frequency response (1hz-100khz) than a standard CD (0-22khz... interestingly, SACD cannot reproduce 0hz due to the encoding used, not that it really matters), neither my speakers nor any human ears can physically suffer the limitation of a standard CD. Third, although SACD has a slightly better dynamic range than normal CDs, when the idiots mastering them clip even on CDs (Hello? Didn't you guys learn the word "headroom" in Audio Engineering school???), giving anything short of infinite dynamic range won't matter, and even if we gave them that, they'd just use it to blow our speakers on the first note in the name of "volume". And fourth no matter how many channels you can encode, I still only have two ears (plus, arguably, a tactile "bass" channel).


      So... Um... The actual topic. DRM sucks. Yeah.

  14. can't they just... by BushCheney08 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can't they just sell me the drive now and then send me the add-on DRM module once they get that sorted out? I promise that I'll hook it up right away.

    --
    Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
  15. Don't blame them by Stan+Vassilev · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's a lot of stress for them.

    They just FEEL that whatever they end up with for AACS it'll be hacked and dismantled the week it's out, and are frantically trying to prevent it.

    It's of course funny to see how the minuses of DRM pile on top of each other (now delaying manifacturing and entering the market), while the benefits are yet to be seen (if ever).

  16. What he really meant (Mod Parent UP) by IAAP · · Score: 5, Funny
    Ok, I'm hungover and pissy..

    I am quite ill.

    But I'm just sick to fucking death of these profit-mongering fuckers pissing all over us. Fucking us over is one thing - keeping us cringing as they sharpen the blades on the serrated dildo they're about to ram into our asses is just the goddamn icing.

    I am quite exhausted with these media corporations trying to eliminate our basic rights to fair use. Would they please try to consider some basic principles other than their profit motives? I understant that they have fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders - maybe my 401K is invested in one of them, but please, consider the above.

    There's a reason I don't buy movies anymore. Shit, I haven't bought a movie or a cd in five fucking years. I don't even own a cd player anymore, and I'm sure as hell not buying either of these goddamn new techs. We have to produce an epic amount of pointless shit to fill the amounts of space available on existing portable media and somehow attempt to justify charging a freaking fortune for utter catwank like Freaky Friday.

    I disappointed with the quality of today's media output.

    And then the cunts will only be fucking happy when I give them money to watch the movie, then have the memory surgically fucking removed from my brain so I don't stad the chance of even potentially infringing on their piece of shit, rip off, 'IP'.

    In their overzealous attempt at promoting their profits, are they going to start erasing our memories so that we have to keep paying for the same content over and over? I feel quite used and over-charged!

    Stallman et al are fucking nuts too, but jesus, at least they look you in the face with their crazed eyes and spit flecked jaws when they're fucking your wife.

    Stallman et al are somewhat eccentric. And I assume that they may be having relations with your spouse.

    Burn my damn karma - you know I'm right. Except about Stallman banging your wife. Probably.

    I have strong opinions about this, and I am not concerned with your modderations.

  17. Impatient by Angst+Badger · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Jiminy, I don't give three-quarters of a rat's ass about movies on BluRay. I want these turkeys to go ahead and get their consumer market rolling along so I can get a writable BluRay drive and start burning spindles full of data DVD-R's to a handful of BluRay discs.

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
  18. The Real Question by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real question is: Will Sony delay the PS3 if the DRM isn't worked out? Or will they ship with what they have at the time?

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  19. I bet they're just removing the root-kits by cbreaker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    After the whole thing with Sony's music CDs, I wouldn't be surprised if they've had to change some aspects of the copy protection - namely removing stealth copy protection mechanisms. Because you know it was on their minds, and probably already coded.

    --
    - It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
  20. The same thing happened with DVD by cvd6262 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Jim Taylor in DVD Demystified explained that DVD's were ready to go (technically) 18 months before they were formally launched. The holdup: Studios wanted encryption. Finally, someone sold them CSS, convincing them it was *very* secure.

    Noting new here. Same old IP concerns holding up innovation and the progress IP protection was meant to promote.

    --

    I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.

  21. Re:The Blue-Ray encryption won't be broken in a we by metamatic · · Score: 3, Informative
    One of the perceived failures of first-generation DVD was that its encryption mechanism of choice, called Content Scramble System (CSS), was spectacularly defeated, with the result being that the industry was forced to permanently and irreversibly support a now-worthless encryption scheme.

    Only the player manufacturers were forced to keep supporting it. There's absolutely no need to use CSS on DVDs. In fact, there are commercial movie DVDs out there that aren't CSS encoded.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak