Sony DRM and the New Digital Hole

expro writes "If the root kit scandal was not enough for Sony, Time Magazine reports that it is a delay in 'the release of copy-protection software required for the PS3's game and high-definition movie discs' giving Microsoft a serious advantage in the market place. Is there something Sony should be learning here about preoccupation copy control? With high definition writable media appearing already, will the price drop soon enough to help me overcome the real obstacle to backing up my exsisting commercial DVDs, cost of single media large enough to hold them that is playable in a player? Will the resulting new digital hole in copying existing DVD schemes to higher-density media replace the analog hole of VCRs in copying movies?"

Comments

Microsoft? Who knew!

[fatduck]

Who would have thought it'd be Microsoft capitalizing on a competitor's fumbling attempts at DRM resulting in confusion and loss of product usability?

Is there something Sony should be learning?

[Spazntwich]

There probably isn't. I guarantee you that in a corporation this large, the beancounters have already run through the numbers plenty of times to decide that this is their most economically viable course of action.

I'm not saying corporations are always right or always do the right thing, but when it comes to making money, Sony usually gets it right, and I don't think one self-important slashdotter speculating otherwise carries much weight compared to a financial beast that's been generating astoundingly large piles of cash for the past long while.

Re:Is there something Sony should be learning?

[DerGeist]

Exactly. Sony isn't stupid, although they do make mistakes.

The negative PR Sony gets in geekland is outweighed by the average consumer's perception of the quality of Sony products. Sony's rootkit was absolutely unacceptable, but don't think Sony didn't already know that.

You'll never know what your boundaries are unless you surpass them. This way, when they slowly reintroduce the same technology years later when DRM and consumer hard-drive snooping has become largely perfunctory, they can measure how far they've come.

Sony has lost it's edge

[Proudrooster]

Sony is now a bipolar company and should just split itself into two halves (content and electronics) so it can move on. If Sony take any longer to make decisions, the next wave of technology will come on go before the Bipolar Sony can make a decision on what technology to release. I divested myself of all Sony components quite awhile ago and have since stopped having flexibility problems with how I view/use my electroncs.

No matter what DRM, watermark, or token system they release will do nothing more than frustrate their consumer base. Many consumers are now feeling for burned by Sony that they will wait until the mid to trailing edge of the technology cycle to adopt it.

Re:Sony has lost it's edge

[Proudrooster]

No idea what I am talking about? I pulled this out of one of my previous slashdot postings.

Sony... the guys who brought us very expensive DVD players that wouldn't read CD-R/DVD+-R media (on purpose of course). This one really upset me. I couldn't play my DVD's slideshows and movies that I made on my computer on my Sony player.

Sony, the guys who brought us the Sony Memory Stick and Magic Gate copy protection aka "Slow and Lame."

Sony, the guys who just released the "iPOD Killer" that can't even play MP3's and requires converting them to Sony's proprietary format (because it's better right?).

Sony, the guys who make TV's that enforce macrovision so strictly that they sometimes don't work with DVD players and legal DVDs. Can anyone say, RF adaptor? Should one really need to purchase an RF adaptor just to get the Sony DVD player and Sony TV to work together? Jeez....

First and second generation HDTVs which won't play at full resolution with new devices because of what they call the "ANALOG HOLE".

Sony the guys who make video cameras that shutoff if accidentally pointed towards a TV screen playing a DVD (say during your child's birthday party).

Sony is capable of making a good product, but don't expect it to be flexible. If you use your Sony product as they deem you should use it (strictly buying their content), then you're fine. Stray outside the lines slightly and it will become a source of aggravation. I realize Sony has become more flexible lately because their electronics division has been suffering, but I will not forgive the sins of the past 4-5 years so easily due to the amount of hard earned cash that I feel was wasted. I will never buy into another proprietary Sony standard just because they want CONTROL nor will I buy another Sony device that doesn't allow what I consider "fair use". I really feel sorry for the people who have been buying with the Sony credit cards and now have accumulated Sony points.

Betamax Revisited

[PyrotekNX]

Sure Betamax was a superior technology compared to VHS, but who won that war? Now they have Bluray. Sure it's a good idea, but Sony is already fumbling the format. It does not matter how good a technology is if the consumers aren't willing to adopt it. DRM takes quite a bit of processing time compared to non-copyprotected media. What does that mean to consumers? Since DRM takes more CPU time and memory, the hardware required to play a DRM'd movie will have to be that much quicker to operate. The faster and more sophisticated the hardware is, the more expensive it will be to us. These units also have a higher energy draw, about 25% more. This is just part of the hidden costs. DRM software doesn't invent itself. It takes a lot of time to develop the software, distribute it, etc etc. Time=Money. This cost is of course passed on to the consumer.

Now lets got to the real issue here. Which will consumers prefer? An expensive, poorly designed piece of technology, or something that is no more difficult to adopt than what they currently have. Most computers have issues playing non-DRM protected HDTV content let alone one that is. I bought the new special edition Terminator II that had the metal case and the high-def version. My computer was brand new at the time and it wouldn't even play it because of the DRM.

So what new format will we choose to distribute the next generation of media? Will it be Bluray or HD-DVD? Maybe neither! There are competing technologies out there that are capable of high-def right now without the need of clunky, ill-deigned DRM software. There's Xvid, DivX, etc, why PAY for proprietary forms of media you can't even bring to your SO's apartment to watch? That was the beauty of VHS, you could record stuff off of tv CHEAPLY, there was ONE format in video stores.

All of this just leads to confusion for the consumer. The new DVD format should piggyback on the old technology and be founded on OPEN standards. History will repeat itself with Sony's proprietary formats. Early adopters of Bluray will be throwing out their money. It will be at least 5 years before HD is fully mainstream. The majority of the movies out there will not benefit from being in HD.

Do you honestly think seeing Gone With the Wind will be better in HD?

Re:The underlying problem is still piracy.

[Scooter's_dad]

...such as the "wink wink" 'backing up my DVDs' nonsense of the submitter...

I have a two year old daughter. She's fond of Monster's Inc., Yellow Submarine and those damned Baby Einstein DVDs. She's also fond of touching the disks themselves. I own legally purchased store-bought copies of all the aforementioned titles. You think my desire to back them up is nonsense? Now THAT's nonsense!

SONY is a hydra

[thatguywhoiam]

Some of you guys have a very strange understanding of Sony, but that is kind of expected, as Sony is a strange entity in and of itself.

Let me illustrate with an example: Sony regularly names Sony as a defendant in copyright lawsuits.

Sony Corporation is: several mini-divisions of Sony Electronics (Walkmans, stereo gear, camcorders, TVs, phones, not to mention an entire division dedicated to pro-level broadcast hardware and Betacam SP); a large media arm in Sony-BMG Music Group which has its own problems, Sony's movie studio - again, schizo in performance but huge and sprawling; Sony's various software divisions (SCE*), in NA, Japan, and Europe; 'online' or SonyConnect verisons for each of those again...not to mention weirdo initiatives like Sony Ericsson (very successful)...

You see where I'm going with this. Here's an article that does a good job summing it up.

It is pointless to discuss an entity called SONY as if it were a coherent entity. It is more like the EU. Very competitive, aligned loosely, but basically all fighting each other tooth and nail for internal dominance, which usually translates to external dominance. This has been Sony's culture for a long time, only recently changing under their new CEO (a Welsh guy, another first for the corporation).

If you ask Sony's hardware guys about the iPod, most of them will readily concede that they were soundly thrashed by Apple. iPod is the new Walkman, no doubt. Sony could have competed with Apple if they didn't have the content arms sniping at them throughout the development process (and also if they had let go of certain insane engineers who loved minidisc a little too much).

So when you guys are boycotting Sony products - a principal I do not disagree with - I do have to wonder a little if you know exactly what you are boycotting. Sony-BMG are bastards, I deal with them all the time and they really just are the epitome of the 'evil record label'. Sony hardware is a completely different entity, and they more or less hate Sony-BMG as well. When you stop buying Sony TVs and whatnot, you are actually punishing the guys who are (now somewhat successfully) pushing against the DRM in the hardware. They hate this shit, and they know what consumers want (mostly...). DRM comes from the media arms, and its dictating product design inside Sony, and that is the battle.

What I am saying is, you need the carrot and the stick. Don't buy Sony-BMG music, they cam eup with the rootkit. DO buy those Sony products that are free of DRM. The message will be clear. I have a Sony Ericsson phone (W600i) and it does not have any DRM for loading and playing music, short of the veil necessary to keep you from beaming pre-canned content into other phones. it actually is the iTunes phone that everyone wanted, and no one shipped, including Motorola/Apple. My iTunes collection, all uninfected MP3 and AAC, loads (both directions) and plays beautifully.

Sony Electronics has typically kept the underperforming divisions from showing up more drastically on the balance sheet (PS2) but they are suffering now as well. Let's hope the hardware guys win over the media guys.

Re:Microsoft? Who knew!

[soupdevil]

Well, you got some karma for it, but Microsoft is actually the author of one of the most successfuly DRM schemes. Apple's Fair Play has been cracked, but to my knowledge Microsoft's Janus scheme is still protecting music downloaded from sites like Napster and Rhapsody. The only way around it is the analog hole, which requires realtime playback and strips all metatags.