Will Copy Protection Always Introduce New Security Problems?
from the probably-so dept
Following the Sony BMG copy protection rootkit fiasco there have been more stories about other copy protection systems introducing vulnerabilities as well. However, the real issue may be that malicious hackers have now been alerted to the fact that this can be a promising new path to compromising systems. Linuxdevices is running a column from someone who warned about exactly this issue nearly three and a half years ago. By its very nature, copy protection introduces an added complexity that is designed to override many other things that a computer is expected to do. Correctly being able to account for every case and every situation is going to be impossible -- and that's going to introduce both security problems and safety problems as an unintended consequence. When you pile on top of that the fact that no copy protection system has been shown to actually prevent the eventual copying of the content and the fact that there's a growing body of evidence suggesting that freely shared entertainment content online isn't the main cause of the entertainment industry's problems -- it's hard to figure out why the industry is so focused on continuing to invest in copy protection.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Why is it so hard to understand?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
I have downloaded maybe 3 songs that I would never have been exposed to otherwise (Eastern music) and not gotten a new CD in about 3 years. I do listen to a web radio station or two at work but that's just background noise for me. The car radio gets all of one hour of usage a week now.
The music industry turned me off for a while and then it just became a lifestyle of not caring about their crappy singles and, surprisingly, life is just as good - and cheaper - without it.
How long before kids figure that out? That's the $12 billion (or however much the industry is worth) question.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
It's a win-win in their minds. They get at least twice the money from the idiots who have a PSP and buy two copies of the films. One for DVD and one for PSP.
They could've been nice and included a blank disk to transfer movies that you own (that aren't backup disks) to the psp... but instead they iron fisted the controls in order to rake in more profits.
Should it really be that surprising that for profit companies are trying to make as much profit as possible? Yeah it's low down and dirty, but that's the base nature of capitalism!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
See, the artists are in the best position: soon self-publishing will be pretty easy and the hardest part of becoming a known musician will be getting people's attention to listen to your stuff. By necessity there will have to be free samples. Many artists won't care if some people take their music without paying if it means none of their audience has to deal with DRM. Others will. The market will decide. Just don't buy protected CDs and if you accidentally do, take them back. Or try to return them to the publisher. These guys will go as far as they can into your pockets but you DON'T have to let them! They consider it their job to get money from you however they can and they respond to sales numbers. Speak in a language they understand!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
I have no problem with protected content, in fact I despise piracy. But when it comes to security holes, I despise it even more.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
If the music industry continues to think like this, then they will only have themselves to blame when music sales continue to decline.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why is it so hard to understand?
it absolutely is about control... not so much about the money, though... if they were really that concerned about money they wouldn't be taking PR risks with their digital rights malware or ignoring the studies claiming that filesharing helps record sales...
they want the money, sure, and they definitely think the control will get them more money, but they've focused so much on just the control aspect of things that they've become blind to the fact that the control isn't getting them more money and they'll never be able to get enough control for it to actually work the way they intend (due to the darknet effect)...
it could very well be that we'd all be better off if they'd just keep their eyes on the prize...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So no pride involved then?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]