Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Here We Go Again — Video Standards War 2010

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the there-is-always-a-war-somewhere dept.

Andy Updegrove writes "Think of the words 'standards war,' and if you're of a certain age you're likely to think of the battle between the Betamax and VHS video tape formats. Fast forward, and you'll recall we just finished another video standards war between most of the same companies, this time between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Well, here we go again, except this time its the movie studios that are duking it out, and DRM issues are a big part of it. On the one side are five of the six major studios, dozens of cable, hardware, software, distribution and device vendors, and on the other side there's just Disney — and maybe Apple as well, and that's enough to have the other side worried."

3 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. KeyChest isn't "DRM", at least on the file level by MBCook · · Score: 5, Informative

    KeyChest isn't really DRM, it's a central repository for purchase information of DRMed files.

    The idea is that companies opt into it, and then every device knows what you own. So when you go download Finding Nemo off iTunes, you can suddenly watch it on your cable box from the cable company, because they are both members of KeyChest and both know that you have a license to that media.

    Basically, it solves the "tied to one format" problem. Each file still needs a "real" DRM format, the KeyChest just serves as a central clearing house of what licenses you have.

    This would fix one of the MAJOR problems with DRM. It's still DRM, but it would be better than what we have now.

    There was a short article on this somewhere (Gizmodo, Engadget, Ars Technica, somewhere) last week. I can't find it right now.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  2. Much Ado about nothing by quo_vadis · · Score: 4, Informative

    The TFA talks about the war between Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) from 6 of the big movie studios versus Keychest from Disney. But the important this is that Keychest is not DRM . As the name implies its a Key management service, proposed by Disney. It needs DRM such as DECE or Apple's Protected AAC stuff to work. The TFA's author doesnt seem to grasp the basic difference.

    --
    Legally obligatory sig : My opinions are my own... etc etc
  3. Re:Slave to the server by dancingmilk · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can play single player Steam games offline so long as you run Steam in offline mode.

    Not completely true, it depends on the game.

    L4D2 will not run offline PERIOD. You get ~5 minutes of game play before the game kicks you out because it can't connect to Steam. This will happen even in offline mode...