DRM is Far From Safe...
The hackers/talkers of Doom9 and the screamers on Ditto did consumers a favor and they didn't even know it. By proving that the AACS DRM was far from safe from their crafty antics they forced the motion picture industry to step back and completely rethink content protection. Why is it good? They did it before the HighDef content discs were being widely sold, rented, used. If the overly restrictive DRM doesn't work what option does the motion picture industry have to get consumers to enjoy (buy) their stuff and still not steal it? A realistic (better/more logical) solution was already on the table...now it looks pretty darned good. It will free the lawyers up to focus on what's important...tracking the real pirates back to their lairs !!
“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
-- Winston Churchill
Whether content developers and content owners (consumers) realize it or not, we owe a big vote of thanks to the Doom9 yahoos. Not for the reason they think either. These are the self-righteous individuals who hacked the “bulletproof” AACS DRM (Digital Rights Management) code in the name of setting movies free.
Had they hacked it, passed it around amongst themselves things might not have changed. We’d still be saddled with an oppressive way of watching our store-bought movies! But what good is it to hack something that is hack-proof if no one knows about it? They had to share their bragging rights. And they did with postings at Diggs, on t-shirts and everywhere they could find the opportunity to expose themselves.
Bragging Rights – To show the world how righteously brilliant they were the Doom9 hackers and others took up the AACS DRM breaking cause in every way possible with thousands of postings on the Web.
You know that wasn’t going to sit well with the protectors of human rights ! They did what they get paid to do.
Shark Attack – When the AACS lawyers were confronted by someone who spread the word on their brilliant 32 number code they did what they do best…they attacked.
They sent cease & desist letters to anyone, everyone who posted the elegant 32 digit code. And probably a few t-shirt silkscreeners as well. Great…another riot on the Web !
Before we go any further let’s emphasize that creative people need to be paid for their work…writers, artists, animators, actors, makeup artists, best boys, post production folks, underwriters and yes even studio execs.
No pay…no play! The problem is the world doesn’t want content protection. Consumers don’t want content protection. Yeah we know you don’t really want to pay for your content. But when you do you want to enjoy it…anywhere !
AACS’s approach has been if you want a copy to watch on your TV…buy it. Want a copy to take to your cabin…buy it. Want a copy to occupy the kids while you drive to visit gramma…buy it. Want a copy in the family room and bedroom…buy it. Sounds logical to Tellywood.
Sucks for consumers.
Tellywood knew a gentler, kinder security solution wasn’t the answer. After all they tried CSS (Content Scrambling System). That sucker was busted before the ink was dry! Funny thing was DVD took off like a rocket! In three years it shot past every PC/CE technology in consumer sales…ever. People snapped up players and burners in unbelievable numbers. Discs flew onto the shelves. And a huge underground pirate industry grew.
Pirate Tracking – Hollywood has spent a lot of time, effort and money tracking pirates. They know where they attack, how they attack and just about how quickly they can get their booty into the consumer’s hands. Consumer ripping isn’t high on the food chain though. Source – Walt Disney
HighDef was Tellywood’s opportunity to take corrective action. The new DRM was impressive…even to the pirates. Ok not to the real pirates because they go to the source…keep their mouths shut…keep a low profile. But for Doom9ers? Crack it…spread the word.
The fact that the 32-character sequence is useless is of no consequence. After all you need to write a complete program around it to start copying HD movie discs. The key only unlocks movies made before April. So who benefited ? Aaahhh… the lawyers. Oh yeah and the bragging rights folks.
Sure they could have posted the movies on the Web so you could download them but… A 2-hour HD DVD download over DSL takes about 3 days. Cable 18-19 hours. Fiber about 2.5 hours. Perhaps…just perhaps that’s why people aren’t jumping on that bandwagon …yet.
Online Demand – While there’s a lot of noise about movies on demand and getting your entertainment over the Internet, reality doesn’t quite keep pace with the hype. It will take time, bigger pipes, different security and a lot of education for mainstream consumers to turn to the web. Source – Ipsos Insight
Continued on next page...
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