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MediaSentry Hired By People's Republic of China
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "MediaSentry, now called 'SafeNet,' the RIAA's illegal, unlicensed investigator of choice, has been hired by the People's Republic of China to provide DRM for the Olympics coverage. The PRC says it 'owns exclusive rights to the broadcast of all audio and video content via online and mobile distribution channels across Mainland China' and wants to protect it from 'piracy.' I wonder if the Chinese government is aware of MediaSentry's track record — i.e. all the good things it has accomplished so far for the Big 4 record companies."
This is a perfect opportunity to point out that TVU Networks has a freely-available player, and loads of Chinese channels streaming across the internet at any given moment,... Good luck, MediaSentry guys! ;-)
> a match made in heaven . . .
I'm quite sure that matches like that are forged in hell not heaven.
Everytime I see this company mentioned on Slashdot, they're still referred to as 'MediaSentry (now SafeNet)'. Why? Is it because the MediaSentry name is still so evocative?
It's because the name change is just a cynical attempt to try and get rid of a name that has 'negative connotations' attached to it, like Palladium becoming the Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, or the Security Systems and Standards Certification Act becoming the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act. The new name is just designed to confuse people, so we list it alongside the old name to emphasize to everyone that nothing has changed, SafeNet is MediaSentry.
The IOC produces a "world feed" of all of the events that serves as the base for coverage in smaller nations. All the local team has to add is native language comments, and maybe a few closeup cameras for their nation's athletes in the event.
Just call them what they are and reference the fact that they are in fact that company that used to be called MediaSentry.
Oh, I get it, so you'd rather it was "SafeNet (Formerly Known As MediaSentry)"... What difference does it make? I'm sure a lot of people still refer to them as MediaSentry, either because they prefer to, or because they still think it's called that, internally and publicly, most likely because that is what it is still called.
Besides, there's no Wiki for SafeNet yet, only a line: "SafeNet - Owner of the online investigative company MediaSentry."
Considering I don;t really give a damn, and wont bother to invesitage further, I find it interesting that A: There's no Wiki, and B: On the MediaSentry wiki, it says they were hired for this, and C: http://www.mediasentry.com/ does not redirect to http://www.safenet-inc.com/ it only mentions that SafeNet now owns MediaSentry, but MediaSentry still exists as a company.
Interesting, I assume your in America? Here (Australia) we pay nothing to watch the Olympics & there would be civil outrage if that ever happened.
Take what ye can. Give nothing back!
Yeah, but Channel7 have the 'exclusive' (read: exclusive commercial, as i believe SBS and the ABC will be covering the less popular sports..) rights to the games. Channel9 were rapped over the knuckles by the IOC for filming when they weren't supposed to even be there.
It's possible this DRM enforcement push is directed against non-endusers, as non-licensed media outlets are also 'without rights' to the material..
Cue shocked realization from a bunch of media execs.
http://www.xkcd.com/354/
Fallacy of accident?
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
No, Channel 7 (here in Aus) is paying for it from the revenue they raise by selling advertising time.
The channel is a free-to-air channel, so viewers are definitely not paying for it.
> and Beijing in 2001 ranked 10
7 years is a *long* time - certainly not recently.
I lived there from 2003 until 2 months ago. It isn't that bad. Only on occasion does it get bad, and it's not because they generate so much pollution so much as the weather is such that it just stays around; or there's a sand storm blown in from the desert. Still, pollution is pollution.
I remember the BBC World News showed some pictures of *clear* skies, suggesting it was something unusual. Bollocks - it's often like that and it just depends on the weather.
> I hope someone does not die in the marathon,
I hope not too, but it's won't be the first time they've had a marathon there...
> but I won't be watching to find out.
I will. It's quite amazing what they've done to make these Olympics possible. I've been to almost every stadium in Beijing and they're all quite excellent. I hear even the BBC complimenting them on the facilities. I'm not *that* much of a sports nut, but there are some events I will be watching for sure.
Comparisons with 1936 are severely misplaced, IMO.
Max.