So it'll do everything the Livescribe pen does, but with a tablet? Sounds like the tablet's superfluous there.
How exactly does the Livescribe do on-the-fly erase/modify/copy&paste again? It's nice that it syncs to audio, but that can be either good or bad...I remember back to my University days, where I would usually be making notes on the last section while listening to the prof explain the next section. Plus, who has time to listen to every lecture twice? That's cutting into good beer time, that is!
btw, the Lenovo ThinkPad has a digitizer overlay on the capacitive screen, making it very responsive to both methods of input (finger and active stylus, nice and pointy:). It works quite well for notetaking, allowing handwriting recognition, random diagramming and equation entry all on the same 'sheet', even with the stock app. You can even make your notes all at once, just like you would on paper, then go back later and tell it which sections to perform handwriting recognition on...pretty slick.
They could have the user do something like shake their head to prove that it's a 3D shape.
I like this. Better yet, have the user be able to define or record an unlock gesture to go with the face recognition, like a nod, head shake, tilt to the side, look to one side and back, hair flip, stick out their tongue, put their hand on their nose, tug one earlobe, etc, etc, etc. One half of the recognition is based on biometrics, the other half to be based on a unique and expected movement pattern. Both are required to gain access to your phone.
(I just want to see one stock broker sticking his tongue out at his phone, saying "whay wunt yoo unlack, yoo gaudam thone!?!"...please? Pretty please??)
Actually I see this as preventing the casual phone check by a police officer. It becomes a locked container and they then legally have to go to more extremes to open it. In some cases a warrant.
Or they just hold it up 'Is this your phone, sir? Oh look, it's unlocked...'
just use a picture of your balls; in theory it should be easier to keep would-be hackers from getting a picture of your balls, and it's only slightly awkward to shove your hand down the front of your pants every time you'd like to use your phone.
Intriguing thought. However, since I don't believe it uses any flash or other mode of subject lighting, you'd actually have to haul your balls out into the daylight instead, or use some sort of in-place ball lighting apparatus, which could get...interesting...in public places.
A bit less convenient But I suppose you'd have a nicely tanned sack!:P
If we could get a la carte programming, cable costs would plummet... those dozen channels would total about $20/month. But so would the number of channels, most of which couldn't survive without their current subsidies.
Good. Then maybe lame ducks like the Golf channel would finally stop spamming the feed.
Seriously, IMHO the only thing more boring than playing golf is watching other people play golf.
Well as I said, format shifting is not piracy. So no, you doing it for someone else is not piracy (assuming you don't then take a copy for yourself).
As to downloading a copy after you own it, that's a bit of a grey area and here's why: You aren't doing anything wrong (unethical) by grabbing a copy of something you've already paid for. The person sharing most certainly is. Of course if there was a system in place to ensure you'd bought a copy before you could download then that'd be okay... But that would be that terrible evil DRM monster creeping in again wouldn't it?
But there is a simple fix to this seemingly insurmountable dilemma...provide studio-rendered DRM-free digital copies for every DVD/BluRay (not this device-locked crap they try to foist off on people) *OR* provide (free of charge) some sort of user-friendly software to help the buyer create their own digital copies, like the preponderance of music rippers available. (I know, user-friendly DVD and BluRay ripping software is readily available, but the studios hate it, and fight against it every chance they get).
To protect their interests, they could incorporate a unique purchase/encoding code in the digital copy. If they then see that digital copy in the wild, they'll know where it came from and that would give them an investigative lead if they chose to track down the person who 'leaked' it. If many 'leaks' seem to be coming from one purchaser, or encoded on one computer, then I'm sure they would want to have a serious chat with that person...as long as they don't get lazy and assume that 83yo Norma Jones is the culprit, just because the copies were created on the laptop that her grandkid helpfully bought for her so she could check her emails. They'd still have to, you know, investigate, but it gives them a starting point at least.
Think about it. Suddenly people could use the media they purchased how they like, even sharing their library with close friends and family, while still protecting the interests of the copyright holders. Hell, their profits should see a huge boost from dropping the DRM research alone...not to mention the boost in sales of digital copies, once they remove the bullshit and make them accessible (as long as they are suitably priced...i.e., not charging physical copy prices for an electronic copy, but keeping the pricing more in line with that on iTunes). Sure, you'll have copies show up with the purchase code stripped, but that just gives them more legal muscle to prosecute the perpetrators when they do track it back to ground zero, like removing or swapping the VIN on a vehicle.
Of course, that would require that they actually place some trust in their customers, instead of assuming that we are all greedy, thieving shitheads, as seems to be their preference. They'd rather fight tooth and nail to preserve their outdated monopoly on how and where their customers enjoy their products. It's nice to see that the sheeple are starting to wake up and fight against this, even if it's just by protesting the draconian legislation they keep trying to shove down our throats...
On the other hand.... Forever is a long time. There is no reasonable expectation of forever in any legal contract for goods or services in any industry I'm aware of. Even contracts for burial plots do not last much more than 200 years.
Soo...what happens in year 201? Do they figure you're finished with it?
On the other hand.... Forever is a long time. There is no reasonable expectation of forever in any legal contract for goods or services in any industry I'm aware of. Even contracts for burial plots do not last much more than 200 years.
Soo...what happens in year 201? Do they figure you're finished with it?
I dunno too much about iPhones, but can't you jailbreak one of those and/or root an Android and get what you want? If not I think there are some bittorent clients for Android at least. I'm pretty sure there is also a proxy for rooted Androids as well since there isn't legal alternatives. I normally buy the CD and go from there anyhow. It just seems like a better deal.
If you fight piracy that hard then all you will have are pirates.
It's more like, I need an american address and credit card to be able to purchase stuff from them, even if I proxy the connection. Which isn't impossible, just a hoop I refuse to jump through. If they scorn my money that much, then fine. I'll buy from the vendors who acknowledge Canada instead.
Quick question for you: can the user change the phone number at any time? If so, what's to prevent an attacker from immediately changing it once they gain access, just like your recovery email? At least your recovery email gets notified if it is changed for some reason...does the phone also get a text if it is no longer the recovery number? That could be an issue if someone moves a lot, or changes phone numbers a lot, so some random stranger with their old phone number gets a text when they finally remember to update it...
I agree, account recovery is a knotty problem, I just honestly can't see how a recovery phone number is any better than a recovery email...other than the fact that it's a lot harder to be anonymous with a cell phone. Not impossible, just more difficult.
I have season 5 of the Big Bang Theory DLing right now. The first four seasons are on overpriced DVDs sitting on my shelf, season 5 will be bought when they get the fucking lead out of their asses and let me pay for the damed thing!
You want frustration? Try getting ahold of the Discovery show "How it's Made":) Seasons 1 through 3 are on the shelf, and I see now that they finally released season 4. Trouble is, the show is in it's 19th season...
For more years than I care to admit, I patiently recorded, cleaned up, cataloged and stored each new episode, filling in gaps in previous seasons by recording every rerun and deleting those I already had. We had them all nice and tidy, so we could watch pretty much any episode we liked, whenever we liked...when I lost it all, due to placing too much trust in raid 5 (I know, I know...now).
Thank goodness I am not the only rabid fan out there, though. Seasons 4 through 17 are safely ensconced in our media center, patiently awaiting upgrade to "ripped from proper DVD" status. Looks like season 4 doesn't have long to wait...I honestly have no idea when their fellow seasons can say the same...
1) That is the U.S. This is about Canada, I am Canadian and I don't care what stupid ass laws you guys allowed to pass.
2) Format shifting is not at discussion here, this is about piracy and format shifting is not piracy
3) You do not, and have never needed to have an internet connection for blu-rays to work at a basic level. There are some added bits that do require it but if your grandparents can't figure out an internet connection somehow I don't think they'll care.
1) I'm just as Canuck as you, and what I am talking about is not what is in effect, but what they are trying to put in effect. We kicked up a fuss about it, but it seems that the digital locks is just not one they're willing to relinquish. I guess it would give their customers too much power, or something.
2) Yees, format shifting is not piracy, but it won't be legal either if these asshats get their way. Like, you can drive your car with insurance and a drivers license, but hey there, we're gonna make it illegal to turn the ignition on. Don't worry, we'll provide this handy tow service...for a fee, of course. For every place you want to go.
3) I call BS on this one. Both of our blu-ray players (yes, I drank the kool-aid) needed firmware updates to be able to play certain movies (the last one that stuck in my head was The Watchmen). They're not Sorney, or some other knockoff brands, they were LG and Samsung respectively, and they were functionally broken right out of the box, thanks to DRM. Every so often, we'd put in a newer BluRay, and sometimes it simply wouldn't play, or (even better) got about halfway through, then freezes up. It got so aggravating that I pretty much quit playing the discs alltogether, and now just format shift and watch that. I'd sell them off, but not to someone I am tech support for...sure, it only happened for a couple of movies on each player, but each time I saw red.
Funny thing is, that has never happened with any DVD player we ever owned...so *maybe* it's more a function of the Blu-Ray format than the DRM...or maybe it's because they 'update' the DRM on their BluRay titles more often, because people get so hot and bothered over all those pixels...
Question for you: Is it 'piracy' for me to rip my parents movies for them? They wouldn't have a hope of being able to do it themselves, yet they appreciate being able to watch their favourite movies while at the lake or on the road with the grandkids.
Another question for you: Is it 'piracy' for my parents to instead download a format-shifted copy of a movie they already own ripped by someone else, instead of getting me to do it for them? How about a standard def copy of a movie or TV show they DVR'd from their fully-paid-for-and-up-to-date cable TV service? Format shifting is not illegal, but the technological barriers imposed by DRM locks and general asshattery, while laughable to you and me, are often insurmountable to them.
I hear the Canadians have hacked it whilst smoking something called BC Bub or Club or something.
Oh, well, possibly, I wouldn't know.
I'm too busy griping about the lack of legal alternatives to iTunes, ones with widely varied selections and the great ease-of-use factor, like Amazon or Google Music.
Puretracks is okay, with a pretty decent selection, but the convenience factor just isn't there yet, like it is (for 'mericans at least) with Amazon or Google. If Puretracks had an app that let me browse and buy on my phone...
If you don't like DRM, buy physical copies. Your paranoia that iTunes will suddenly stop letting you play purchased video is unreasonable, and a work around is readily available.
The solution is not piracy.
Heh, that one gave me a good chuckle, thanks! "If you don't like DRM, buy physical copies"...indeed:)
What in'ell do you think the MAFIAA is trying to do with their 'digital locks' clauses that they keep trying to push through up here? They are trying to make it illegal for a person to format shift (which in itself is perfectly legal, by the way) if it involves bypassing even the most ineffective DRM 'lock' on the market.
My grandparents keep asking me about Blu-Ray, what it's about, whether they need one. I think they'd enjoy the quality...but. They have no internet connection, and wouldn't know what to do with one if they did, so I would be the first call every time they bought a new Blu Ray and it didn't play for them, or froze up halfway through. Did I mention they have no internet (and barely have cell coverage) where they live? So it's a trip out there to pick it up and bring it back to my place to troubleshoot (6 hours round trip, give or take), then another trip out there to re-install after patching, or removing a patch, or whatever the fuck fixed it until next time. Rinse and repeat.
Why is that considered an acceptable business model?
I can get any show/song I want on iTunes. If I didn't want to pay $3 an episode or a buck a song, I just wouldn't bloody own it.
Trouble is, you don't own the video, you're just renting the ability to watch it on a restricted subset of devices, for as long as the company decides you can.
At least the mp3's you buy are yours, you can do what you like with them: back them up with extreme paranoia, share them with friends, port them to anything that will play mp3 format, edit the metadata for shits and giggles, etc., etc. The video? Not so much.
If (and that's a big 'if') they ever move to DRM-free video services on iTunes, that's when I'll take them seriously. Until then, it's just a big joke, and the joke's on you.
I still by CDs and DVD-Audio discs because I want to rip the files into a lossless format. Plus I still listen to entire albums from start to finish. I guess I'm just old school at the ripe old age of 33.
I buy CDs when I go to live performances (I pretty much get one of each they have for sale, if I don't have it already...and sometimes even if I do:). That's all to support artists I love, otherwise why would I be at their shows? Also, I *believe* that a larger cut of live show sales goes to the artist, less (or hopefully none?) to those damned RIAA leeches. (Can anybody verify this for me? I've never been able to find a definitive answer to this question...)
Other than that, I only buy CDs from used music stores or, preferably, direct from the artists if they have an online store. iTunes is my last resort if I can't scratch my itch elsewhere, since I *believe* that those infernal RIAA bloodsuckers get a lower percentage of the cut from iTunes purchases than they do from physical media sales (again, can't find confirmation, so verification or refutation is welcome!)
? a) DirecTV is a satellite TV provider, not anything you can actually purchase content from, just rent it. And, b) it's apparently not available in Canada, according to their own website.
It's almost like the question of legalizing marijuana. If left illegal it becomes a gateway drug and connects people with those who distribute drugs that are actually harmful. If legal, most people would never connect with the dealers of harmful drugs. Same with piracy - provide easy access to legit media and most will never visit the pirate bay.
While there are several errors in your post, this one hits the mark. This makes sense, from personal observation.
I am neither here nor there regarding legalizing pot: I'll let others debate that point to death. The fact that media companies are cutting their own throats by driving customers to the pirate sites in droves due to the severe dearth of legal, flexible, timely, cost effective and user-friendly alternatives is something I see quite regularly. Non-techie family, friends and colleagues are often asking me about this 'torrenting' thing, and while some I answer, some I direct to the local store, or help them get an iTunes or Netflix account set up if that meets their needs better.
If the equivalent of iTunes for movies/TV was available (i.e., ***NO DRM***, huge selection, device-agnostic, quick to post new content/episodes, reasonable media pricing, etc.), I could easily see the day when all (well ok, *most*) of the questions about torrenting just fade away.
Well now, perhaps studies like this will help motivate the other large US music sellers (Amazon, Google) to get off their collective asses and start porting their services to Canada. Have been (not so) patiently waiting for this for, what, five years now?
I am no fan of Apple, but right now that's the only large-scale digital music purchase option available to Canada...at least they provide iTunes cards so I don't have to, you know, enter any real personal information for an iTunes account. The interface and bloatiness still sucks, though, and I'd hop on Amazon or Google in a heartbeat (well, once my current credits are used up).
Where in TFA is it suggested that this has anything to do with a lack of piracy?
Good point. Maybe we just need lots of indoor entertainment for, like, 8 months of the year or something like that...more than we could handily pirate:)
The answer is actually yes And I'm guessing pretty soon piracy will be dead.... All you need is encryption chips on every motherboard that decrypt the content on the HDD/SSD... So the only way to get content is buy it from an appstore that will encrypt it for use on your machine (the chip will only decrypt, so you need to have it encrypted... and of course you will not have the key to do that)... Dell already ships computers with such chips... for the time being they are off... until they turn them on... Free spech will still exist.. but it will be just that... the ability to post stuff online... as word on a forum/ or a pic of your cat... post a program and it will be useless to everybody else (cause it's encrypted only for you machine)
Okay, so you're saying sacrifice media portability entirely, then? In this day and age, where typical electronic device lifetime hovers around a year, and people are replacing their content-viewing devices every three to five years?? Your shilling is exceptional today, as you just proposed a model that would not only prevent the purchaser from backing up their purchased works in any meaningful way, but it would also force them to re-purchase their entire collection every time they got a new device, or had to replace a stolen one...wow. Just wow.
Okay, so lets say all content moves to an iTunes-like central server, then, so you can re-download your re-encrypted content on your new device(s). We won't even get into artificial limitations on number of devices you can re-download content to, as set by the greedy content suppliers (yes, I'm looking at you Apple). Riddle me this: how can you be sure your content will still be there for you when you go to download it? Is the provider going to sign some sort of perpetual availability agreement (yeah right, not bloody likely). So there you are, three years down the road, new laptop in front of you and half your purchased content is simply not available anymore. But the re-processed, extra-digitized, super duper HD-ized version is conveniently available in the store, they inform you...
Not to mention that your little scheme wouldn't work anyway. White hats would simply focus on intercepting the video/audio/etc. downstream of the decryption chip, and re-encode it to an unencrypted HD format. Unless you're proposing that home movie formats should also be subject to your so-called plan? "Sorry Grandma, we can't play that video of little Johnny for you, we recorded it over two years ago and our old computer crashed...yes we have backups, but they're, well, useless"
No. When I buy something, I expect to be able to use it how and where I want, without having to call in and 'beg permission' from the control freaks whom I have already paid for the privilege of viewing their content again, or on a different device. If I want to back it up and not watch it for ten years, then decide to watch it every day for the next five years straight on all of my devices, I will. If I can't, it's no sale, buddy.
"Some animals are cute and others are not, the cute animals we tend to think of as Pets, the ugly ones we think of as dinner."
Yet we eat veal, and keep pigs as pets...heck, my mom even had a full-grown cow for a pet growing up. The thing would follow her around everywhere, even trying to come in the house, then sticking her head in the kitchen window for scratches when she was chased back outside. Yep, we're just self-contradictory creatures all around.
I'm guessing it's more to do with what options you have available. If you're starving, that puppy over there starts looking a lot less cute and a lot more delicious...on the other hand, if you don't ever have to butcher your meat yourself, just pick it up in tasty ready-to-barbeque shapes, it's a bit too easy to disassociate from the source. Neither way is optimal.
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So it'll do everything the Livescribe pen does, but with a tablet? Sounds like the tablet's superfluous there.
How exactly does the Livescribe do on-the-fly erase/modify/copy&paste again? It's nice that it syncs to audio, but that can be either good or bad...I remember back to my University days, where I would usually be making notes on the last section while listening to the prof explain the next section. Plus, who has time to listen to every lecture twice? That's cutting into good beer time, that is!
btw, the Lenovo ThinkPad has a digitizer overlay on the capacitive screen, making it very responsive to both methods of input (finger and active stylus, nice and pointy :). It works quite well for notetaking, allowing handwriting recognition, random diagramming and equation entry all on the same 'sheet', even with the stock app. You can even make your notes all at once, just like you would on paper, then go back later and tell it which sections to perform handwriting recognition on...pretty slick.
No thanks, dere Buddy whas your name, I don't smoke!
I think 'e was th' other fellah... :)
They could have the user do something like shake their head to prove that it's a 3D shape.
I like this. Better yet, have the user be able to define or record an unlock gesture to go with the face recognition, like a nod, head shake, tilt to the side, look to one side and back, hair flip, stick out their tongue, put their hand on their nose, tug one earlobe, etc, etc, etc. One half of the recognition is based on biometrics, the other half to be based on a unique and expected movement pattern. Both are required to gain access to your phone.
(I just want to see one stock broker sticking his tongue out at his phone, saying "whay wunt yoo unlack, yoo gaudam thone!?!"...please? Pretty please??)
Actually I see this as preventing the casual phone check by a police officer. It becomes a locked container and they then legally have to go to more extremes to open it. In some cases a warrant.
Or they just hold it up 'Is this your phone, sir? Oh look, it's unlocked...'
just use a picture of your balls; in theory it should be easier to keep would-be hackers from getting a picture of your balls, and it's only slightly awkward to shove your hand down the front of your pants every time you'd like to use your phone.
Intriguing thought. However, since I don't believe it uses any flash or other mode of subject lighting, you'd actually have to haul your balls out into the daylight instead, or use some sort of in-place ball lighting apparatus, which could get...interesting...in public places.
A bit less convenient But I suppose you'd have a nicely tanned sack! :P
If we could get a la carte programming, cable costs would plummet... those dozen channels would total about $20/month. But so would the number of channels, most of which couldn't survive without their current subsidies.
Good. Then maybe lame ducks like the Golf channel would finally stop spamming the feed.
Seriously, IMHO the only thing more boring than playing golf is watching other people play golf.
Well as I said, format shifting is not piracy. So no, you doing it for someone else is not piracy (assuming you don't then take a copy for yourself).
As to downloading a copy after you own it, that's a bit of a grey area and here's why: You aren't doing anything wrong (unethical) by grabbing a copy of something you've already paid for. The person sharing most certainly is. Of course if there was a system in place to ensure you'd bought a copy before you could download then that'd be okay... But that would be that terrible evil DRM monster creeping in again wouldn't it?
But there is a simple fix to this seemingly insurmountable dilemma...provide studio-rendered DRM-free digital copies for every DVD/BluRay (not this device-locked crap they try to foist off on people) *OR* provide (free of charge) some sort of user-friendly software to help the buyer create their own digital copies, like the preponderance of music rippers available. (I know, user-friendly DVD and BluRay ripping software is readily available, but the studios hate it, and fight against it every chance they get).
To protect their interests, they could incorporate a unique purchase/encoding code in the digital copy. If they then see that digital copy in the wild, they'll know where it came from and that would give them an investigative lead if they chose to track down the person who 'leaked' it. If many 'leaks' seem to be coming from one purchaser, or encoded on one computer, then I'm sure they would want to have a serious chat with that person...as long as they don't get lazy and assume that 83yo Norma Jones is the culprit, just because the copies were created on the laptop that her grandkid helpfully bought for her so she could check her emails. They'd still have to, you know, investigate, but it gives them a starting point at least.
Think about it. Suddenly people could use the media they purchased how they like, even sharing their library with close friends and family, while still protecting the interests of the copyright holders. Hell, their profits should see a huge boost from dropping the DRM research alone...not to mention the boost in sales of digital copies, once they remove the bullshit and make them accessible (as long as they are suitably priced...i.e., not charging physical copy prices for an electronic copy, but keeping the pricing more in line with that on iTunes). Sure, you'll have copies show up with the purchase code stripped, but that just gives them more legal muscle to prosecute the perpetrators when they do track it back to ground zero, like removing or swapping the VIN on a vehicle.
Of course, that would require that they actually place some trust in their customers, instead of assuming that we are all greedy, thieving shitheads, as seems to be their preference. They'd rather fight tooth and nail to preserve their outdated monopoly on how and where their customers enjoy their products. It's nice to see that the sheeple are starting to wake up and fight against this, even if it's just by protesting the draconian legislation they keep trying to shove down our throats...
On the other hand....
Forever is a long time. There is no reasonable expectation of forever in any legal contract for goods or services in any
industry I'm aware of. Even contracts for burial plots do not last much more than 200 years.
Soo...what happens in year 201? Do they figure you're finished with it?
braainnnss...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery#Re-use_of_graves
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13357909
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,527134,00.html
O_O
I was being facetious, but...suddenly my commitment to cremation is a whole lot firmer...
On the other hand....
Forever is a long time. There is no reasonable expectation of forever in any legal contract for goods or services in any
industry I'm aware of. Even contracts for burial plots do not last much more than 200 years.
Soo...what happens in year 201? Do they figure you're finished with it?
braainnnss...
I dunno too much about iPhones, but can't you jailbreak one of those and/or root an Android and get what you want? If not I think there are some bittorent clients for Android at least. I'm pretty sure there is also a proxy for rooted Androids as well since there isn't legal alternatives. I normally buy the CD and go from there anyhow. It just seems like a better deal.
If you fight piracy that hard then all you will have are pirates.
It's more like, I need an american address and credit card to be able to purchase stuff from them, even if I proxy the connection. Which isn't impossible, just a hoop I refuse to jump through. If they scorn my money that much, then fine. I'll buy from the vendors who acknowledge Canada instead.
Quick question for you: can the user change the phone number at any time? If so, what's to prevent an attacker from immediately changing it once they gain access, just like your recovery email? At least your recovery email gets notified if it is changed for some reason...does the phone also get a text if it is no longer the recovery number? That could be an issue if someone moves a lot, or changes phone numbers a lot, so some random stranger with their old phone number gets a text when they finally remember to update it...
I agree, account recovery is a knotty problem, I just honestly can't see how a recovery phone number is any better than a recovery email...other than the fact that it's a lot harder to be anonymous with a cell phone. Not impossible, just more difficult.
I have season 5 of the Big Bang Theory DLing right now. The first four seasons are on overpriced DVDs sitting on my shelf, season 5 will be bought when they get the fucking lead out of their asses and let me pay for the damed thing!
You want frustration? Try getting ahold of the Discovery show "How it's Made" :) Seasons 1 through 3 are on the shelf, and I see now that they finally released season 4. Trouble is, the show is in it's 19th season...
For more years than I care to admit, I patiently recorded, cleaned up, cataloged and stored each new episode, filling in gaps in previous seasons by recording every rerun and deleting those I already had. We had them all nice and tidy, so we could watch pretty much any episode we liked, whenever we liked...when I lost it all, due to placing too much trust in raid 5 (I know, I know...now).
Thank goodness I am not the only rabid fan out there, though. Seasons 4 through 17 are safely ensconced in our media center, patiently awaiting upgrade to "ripped from proper DVD" status. Looks like season 4 doesn't have long to wait...I honestly have no idea when their fellow seasons can say the same...
1) That is the U.S. This is about Canada, I am Canadian and I don't care what stupid ass laws you guys allowed to pass.
2) Format shifting is not at discussion here, this is about piracy and format shifting is not piracy
3) You do not, and have never needed to have an internet connection for blu-rays to work at a basic level. There are some added bits that do require it but if your grandparents can't figure out an internet connection somehow I don't think they'll care.
1) I'm just as Canuck as you, and what I am talking about is not what is in effect, but what they are trying to put in effect. We kicked up a fuss about it, but it seems that the digital locks is just not one they're willing to relinquish. I guess it would give their customers too much power, or something.
2) Yees, format shifting is not piracy, but it won't be legal either if these asshats get their way. Like, you can drive your car with insurance and a drivers license, but hey there, we're gonna make it illegal to turn the ignition on. Don't worry, we'll provide this handy tow service...for a fee, of course. For every place you want to go.
3) I call BS on this one. Both of our blu-ray players (yes, I drank the kool-aid) needed firmware updates to be able to play certain movies (the last one that stuck in my head was The Watchmen). They're not Sorney, or some other knockoff brands, they were LG and Samsung respectively, and they were functionally broken right out of the box, thanks to DRM. Every so often, we'd put in a newer BluRay, and sometimes it simply wouldn't play, or (even better) got about halfway through, then freezes up. It got so aggravating that I pretty much quit playing the discs alltogether, and now just format shift and watch that. I'd sell them off, but not to someone I am tech support for...sure, it only happened for a couple of movies on each player, but each time I saw red.
Funny thing is, that has never happened with any DVD player we ever owned...so *maybe* it's more a function of the Blu-Ray format than the DRM...or maybe it's because they 'update' the DRM on their BluRay titles more often, because people get so hot and bothered over all those pixels...
Question for you: Is it 'piracy' for me to rip my parents movies for them? They wouldn't have a hope of being able to do it themselves, yet they appreciate being able to watch their favourite movies while at the lake or on the road with the grandkids.
Another question for you: Is it 'piracy' for my parents to instead download a format-shifted copy of a movie they already own ripped by someone else, instead of getting me to do it for them? How about a standard def copy of a movie or TV show they DVR'd from their fully-paid-for-and-up-to-date cable TV service? Format shifting is not illegal, but the technological barriers imposed by DRM locks and general asshattery, while laughable to you and me, are often insurmountable to them.
I hear the Canadians have hacked it whilst smoking something called BC Bub or Club or something.
Oh, well, possibly, I wouldn't know.
I'm too busy griping about the lack of legal alternatives to iTunes, ones with widely varied selections and the great ease-of-use factor, like Amazon or Google Music.
Puretracks is okay, with a pretty decent selection, but the convenience factor just isn't there yet, like it is (for 'mericans at least) with Amazon or Google. If Puretracks had an app that let me browse and buy on my phone...
Here's the thing:
If you don't like DRM, buy physical copies. Your paranoia that iTunes will suddenly stop letting you play purchased video is unreasonable, and a work around is readily available.
The solution is not piracy.
Heh, that one gave me a good chuckle, thanks! "If you don't like DRM, buy physical copies"...indeed :)
What in'ell do you think the MAFIAA is trying to do with their 'digital locks' clauses that they keep trying to push through up here? They are trying to make it illegal for a person to format shift (which in itself is perfectly legal, by the way) if it involves bypassing even the most ineffective DRM 'lock' on the market.
The DRM doesn't work, they know it doesn't work, yet they keep trying to beat that dead horse. All their increasingly draconian DRM does is breaks things for people who don't know how to fix it, you know, the ones who legally purchased it, and legally expect to be able to watch it without hassles? Meanwhile the pirated version can be played on practically device, no crap commercials, no lousy trailers, no bloated DVD screens, etc, etc, etc.
My grandparents keep asking me about Blu-Ray, what it's about, whether they need one. I think they'd enjoy the quality...but. They have no internet connection, and wouldn't know what to do with one if they did, so I would be the first call every time they bought a new Blu Ray and it didn't play for them, or froze up halfway through. Did I mention they have no internet (and barely have cell coverage) where they live? So it's a trip out there to pick it up and bring it back to my place to troubleshoot (6 hours round trip, give or take), then another trip out there to re-install after patching, or removing a patch, or whatever the fuck fixed it until next time. Rinse and repeat.
Why is that considered an acceptable business model?
I can get any show/song I want on iTunes. If I didn't want to pay $3 an episode or a buck a song, I just wouldn't bloody own it.
Trouble is, you don't own the video, you're just renting the ability to watch it on a restricted subset of devices, for as long as the company decides you can.
At least the mp3's you buy are yours, you can do what you like with them: back them up with extreme paranoia, share them with friends, port them to anything that will play mp3 format, edit the metadata for shits and giggles, etc., etc. The video? Not so much.
If (and that's a big 'if') they ever move to DRM-free video services on iTunes, that's when I'll take them seriously. Until then, it's just a big joke, and the joke's on you.
I still by CDs and DVD-Audio discs because I want to rip the files into a lossless format. Plus I still listen to entire albums from start to finish. I guess I'm just old school at the ripe old age of 33.
I buy CDs when I go to live performances (I pretty much get one of each they have for sale, if I don't have it already...and sometimes even if I do :). That's all to support artists I love, otherwise why would I be at their shows? Also, I *believe* that a larger cut of live show sales goes to the artist, less (or hopefully none?) to those damned RIAA leeches. (Can anybody verify this for me? I've never been able to find a definitive answer to this question...)
Other than that, I only buy CDs from used music stores or, preferably, direct from the artists if they have an online store. iTunes is my last resort if I can't scratch my itch elsewhere, since I *believe* that those infernal RIAA bloodsuckers get a lower percentage of the cut from iTunes purchases than they do from physical media sales (again, can't find confirmation, so verification or refutation is welcome!)
What about DirecTV?
?
a) DirecTV is a satellite TV provider, not anything you can actually purchase content from, just rent it. And,
b) it's apparently not available in Canada, according to their own website.
It's almost like the question of legalizing marijuana. If left illegal it becomes a gateway drug and connects people with those who distribute drugs that are actually harmful. If legal, most people would never connect with the dealers of harmful drugs. Same with piracy - provide easy access to legit media and most will never visit the pirate bay.
While there are several errors in your post, this one hits the mark. This makes sense, from personal observation.
I am neither here nor there regarding legalizing pot: I'll let others debate that point to death. The fact that media companies are cutting their own throats by driving customers to the pirate sites in droves due to the severe dearth of legal, flexible, timely, cost effective and user-friendly alternatives is something I see quite regularly. Non-techie family, friends and colleagues are often asking me about this 'torrenting' thing, and while some I answer, some I direct to the local store, or help them get an iTunes or Netflix account set up if that meets their needs better.
If the equivalent of iTunes for movies/TV was available (i.e., ***NO DRM***, huge selection, device-agnostic, quick to post new content/episodes, reasonable media pricing, etc.), I could easily see the day when all (well ok, *most*) of the questions about torrenting just fade away.
I still by CDs and DVD-Audio discs...
Oh, are you'se the b'y? :)
Well now, perhaps studies like this will help motivate the other large US music sellers (Amazon, Google) to get off their collective asses and start porting their services to Canada. Have been (not so) patiently waiting for this for, what, five years now?
I am no fan of Apple, but right now that's the only large-scale digital music purchase option available to Canada...at least they provide iTunes cards so I don't have to, you know, enter any real personal information for an iTunes account. The interface and bloatiness still sucks, though, and I'd hop on Amazon or Google in a heartbeat (well, once my current credits are used up).
Where in TFA is it suggested that this has anything to do with a lack of piracy?
Good point. Maybe we just need lots of indoor entertainment for, like, 8 months of the year or something like that...more than we could handily pirate :)
Arrr...eh!
The answer is actually yes .... All you need is encryption chips on every motherboard that decrypt the content on the HDD/SSD ... So the only way to get content is buy it from an appstore that will encrypt it for use on your machine (the chip will only decrypt, so you need to have it encrypted... and of course you will not have the key to do that) ... Dell already ships computers with such chips ... for the time being they are off ... until they turn them on ... Free spech will still exist .. but it will be just that ... the ability to post stuff online ... as word on a forum/ or a pic of your cat ... post a program and it will be useless to everybody else (cause it's encrypted only for you machine)
And I'm guessing pretty soon piracy will be dead
Okay, so you're saying sacrifice media portability entirely, then? In this day and age, where typical electronic device lifetime hovers around a year, and people are replacing their content-viewing devices every three to five years?? Your shilling is exceptional today, as you just proposed a model that would not only prevent the purchaser from backing up their purchased works in any meaningful way, but it would also force them to re-purchase their entire collection every time they got a new device, or had to replace a stolen one...wow. Just wow.
Okay, so lets say all content moves to an iTunes-like central server, then, so you can re-download your re-encrypted content on your new device(s). We won't even get into artificial limitations on number of devices you can re-download content to, as set by the greedy content suppliers (yes, I'm looking at you Apple). Riddle me this: how can you be sure your content will still be there for you when you go to download it? Is the provider going to sign some sort of perpetual availability agreement (yeah right, not bloody likely). So there you are, three years down the road, new laptop in front of you and half your purchased content is simply not available anymore. But the re-processed, extra-digitized, super duper HD-ized version is conveniently available in the store, they inform you...
Not to mention that your little scheme wouldn't work anyway. White hats would simply focus on intercepting the video/audio/etc. downstream of the decryption chip, and re-encode it to an unencrypted HD format. Unless you're proposing that home movie formats should also be subject to your so-called plan? "Sorry Grandma, we can't play that video of little Johnny for you, we recorded it over two years ago and our old computer crashed...yes we have backups, but they're, well, useless"
No. When I buy something, I expect to be able to use it how and where I want, without having to call in and 'beg permission' from the control freaks whom I have already paid for the privilege of viewing their content again, or on a different device. If I want to back it up and not watch it for ten years, then decide to watch it every day for the next five years straight on all of my devices, I will. If I can't, it's no sale, buddy.
I disagree slightly, I believe it's more
"Some animals are cute and others are not, the cute animals we tend to think of as Pets, the ugly ones we think of as dinner."
Yet we eat veal, and keep pigs as pets...heck, my mom even had a full-grown cow for a pet growing up. The thing would follow her around everywhere, even trying to come in the house, then sticking her head in the kitchen window for scratches when she was chased back outside. Yep, we're just self-contradictory creatures all around.
I'm guessing it's more to do with what options you have available. If you're starving, that puppy over there starts looking a lot less cute and a lot more delicious...on the other hand, if you don't ever have to butcher your meat yourself, just pick it up in tasty ready-to-barbeque shapes, it's a bit too easy to disassociate from the source. Neither way is optimal.
...I just got an irony headache. Oww...