Latest Entertainment Digital Strategy: Incidental Obsolescence

from the hmmmmmmm dept

Tue, Jun 20th 2006 1:52pm — Carlo Longino

One of the Guardian blogs has a post involving the demise of the MyCokeMusic download store, at one time the biggest download store in Europe. It raises an interesting question, though not one the post actually hits on -- what happens for consumers when a seller of DRMed media files shuts down? With things like cassettes, LPs or CDs, their obsolence can really be determined only by a lack of available playback equipment. But for locked-down digital files, particularly those using a mechanism that has to go out and validate a license from a content provider or another authority, the closure of such an entity could render files unplayable. One of the downsides of current DRM implementations is a lack of interoperability. It's hard to imagine that those interoperability problems won't get worse, particularly as some of the music download sites that have popped up go out of business. Of course, with so much of modern entertainment strategy revolving around getting consumers to pay for the same content multiple times, it's hard to see Big Content really caring.

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10 Comments

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fizzletwist, 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:57pm

first post
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Fantastical monkey, 20 Jun 2006 @ 2:09pm

We knew this was going to happen for sometime. But DRM'd music, and your screwed.

Stick to DRM free stuff or CDs.

I'll buy a CD if i really like an artist - fair enough. But unless they are in my fav list they get downloaded pirate style. I'm certainly not paying for DRM'd stuff. I like portability and music being able to last past the software i currently use.
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First Reply, 20 Jun 2006 @ 2:15pm

Re:
:-P
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First Reply, 20 Jun 2006 @ 2:15pm

Re: Re:
Blast!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2006 @ 2:18pm

DRM'ed content is for suckers.
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Derf, 20 Jun 2006 @ 2:23pm

I have a subcription to Yahoo Unlimited for casual listening. But, if I want something for keeps, I buy the CD. That way, I can make backups for myself and use them keeping the originals in new condition in a safe place.

I'm not going to buy something that restricts my usage like DRM does on something that I've paid for and own. I do respect copyright law however.

Many times I can find what I want used on Ebay or something.
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Saint, 20 Jun 2006 @ 3:30pm

Re: first post
NO ONE CARES. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE. Thanks for adding no content
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2006 @ 4:22pm

Re:
what he said! In spades!
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Scott, 21 Jun 2006 @ 5:54am

Already happened
Didn't this already happen with the old DiVX players? They phoned home every so often to determine if you license was valid.

Anyone know what happened there, would be a good marker?
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JonathanB, 25 Jun 2006 @ 6:02am

The simple solution is to write a pseudo-device driver that looks and acts like a sound card, but instead converts in the incoming data to an mp3 format. It really is not that hard to do.

JonathanB
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