Hollywood To Steve Jobs: We Need Stronger DRM
from the bad-ideas dept
Rajesh writes in to point to a Business Week article about Hollywood's fear of Apple. It's not, apparently, because Apple has tremendous power over the recording industry thanks to their iTunes lock-in, but because they don't like the fact that Jobs wants to make sure the DRM isn't too cumbersome. The idea that a downloaded movie can be shared on up to three iPods apparently pisses off the studios. "His user rules just scare the heck out of us," claims one studio exec. The article claims that the studio views sharing a purchased film in this matter is "just as bad" as someone using file sharing. While Jobs has been able to convince Disney to participate (in part due to his position on the board), the others are balking. Paramount did agree to let older movies be sold via iTunes, but nothing new or popular. The fact that it's because they want the DRM to be even stricter suggests that they haven't learned a thing about the trouble the internet has caused them over the last decade. Making the content controls even stricter pretty much guarantees failure of any such plan -- and would only drive more people to file sharing systems where those restrictions are not in place.
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Give them the rope.
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Meh?
Nah, I didn't think so either.
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Brilliant!
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MS behind this?
http://www.twit.tv/sn74 is an interesting listen on this subject.
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Re: MS behind this?
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Hidden Plot
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Ripping DVD's
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Media vs. Consumer
The problem is (Listen up studios. Networks, and Labels) by looking at DRM as a means to limit media through hardware, it creates even more opportunity for backlash because the devices themselves can have their firmware updated by a BluRay/HDDVD disc (remember Sony rootkits and the permanent marker around CD) causing failure in the hardware and return of product to the stores.
The fact that every DRM...microsoft, apple, and AACS encryption and others have been cracked is a real fear...its like leaving your keys in your car but the thieves have a crowbar and can break the window. You would be upset. Yes Silicon Valley and Redmond need better protection...but there needs to be a different approach.
Everyone in the studio is trying to protect their assets and their job. That is fair and honorable. The real issue here is consumer accessibility not DRM from a "lockdown" perspective.
if we as a consumer are able to get our media for a small fee and watch it whenever, wherever, and forever if we buy it, then we use DRM to protect our rights as a consumer and provide accountability to the Content Providers and Subscriber Networks.
We need to look at DRM as a form of accountability and tracking. Not as a "lockdown" and/or "Big Brother" mentality.
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Uh
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Re: Uh
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003271.html
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tunebite
http://www.soft29.com/audio_converter/tunebite_premium_platinum.html
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My Opinion is:
Maybe when they see how great Steve Jobs' plan works out, they'll say, "Okay we give in to you!", and we can all get on with our lives being just a little better.
What the people striving for that so called "Draconian" type of control over their media, whether it be music/movies/whatever, want is that everybody buys their very own copy. Don't bring it to your friends house, just have them buy a copy if you can't have them come over and watch it. The thing is, nothing is 100% secure! It's just not possible when you're talking about something like media.
They need to make it that you can buy a DVD for like $5. At least until HD-DVD or Blu-Ray have won the war and then make sure those are only $10 per a movie. This way, people won't care that they could waste their time downloading it for free or just buy it, they'd just buy it. Unless the movie sucks like most of the garbage they put out, because they're more worried about how many movies they can churn out and not their actual quality. That's another arguement though. :P
So what I am saying is this: Get rid of DRM and the like alllllllll together! Make the media cheap, and people will buy it in masses because it is cheap! The savy consumer will most likely go with the "try before you buy" method of downloading it for free somewhere and then buying the actual movie. If they could hurry up with that Internet 2 thingy, then they could offer downloads of the movies for $7 since you're not getting the box art, box and pamphlet stuff. So essentially everybody would most likely just download their movies. :D
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stronger?
DRM doesn't work. they need to just give up on it and adapt a new distribution model that does work. of course, i don't think they'll ever figure this out, the RIAA and MPAA will go out of business before they figure this out, so it seems. they are fighting a losing battle.
this really comes down to a battle against freedom. the RIAA and MPAA want to take away our freedom, and the public is fighting against it. indeed, the biggest cause of the growth of Peer-2-Peer are the RIAA and MPAA themselves. not only that, but they have been great for advertising P2P programs like Kazaa, eDonkey, BitTorrent, and The Pirate Bay. i've had family members, who knew nothing about P2P, ask me about it after seeing something about it because of RIAA and MPAA. they learnt about P2P from the RIAA and MPAA. idiots corporate mafia's.
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So here we go...no purchases for me...
It's the same with movies. DVD restrictions such as CSS and region coding are annoying but easily circumvented. I won't upgrade to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray unless the copy-protection and region coding are circumvented for the same reasons - I can't guarantee they'll work on the equipment I choose to use, so won't buy them.
For downloads, I'd love it if there was an site where decent quality downloads are available that would work on a Mac, Windows, Linux or any other system. I won't buy a download if it won't work in Linux or allow me to copy to my DVD player.
Since they don't want that, sorry guys, you've lost my money. I buy at least as many DVDs through eBay (where the studios don't get me cash) as I do new, and I buy a lot more DVDs than movies I watch at the cinema.
So, congratualtions. Even discarding downloads, you encourage me to keep buying my movies in a way that stops you getting profit. As mentioned many times, release movies in a format easily transferrable to DVD, that plays in the systems that the customer prefers to use, and you get the cash. Make it too difficult, people either don't bother, or pirate. If your next annual results show a loss, you only have yourself to blame.
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RIAA
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2007/01/seti-riaa-sues-aliens.html
It's great
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STRONGER DRM
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Free Market
The industry needs to come to terms that these are reactions to their price gouging and control issues and consumers need to fully stop supporting them until the smoke can clear.
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This happened with music and the reluctance of studios to sell tracks for $1 online lead to rampant file sharing. Once they finally allowed it, online sales took off. It's a new medium and one they don't understand, but if they don't embrace it, then they cannot control the outcome at all.
I'm just being a realist here, not suggesting that piracy is right. That said, I would feel more empathy towards the studios if their exectutives and actors weren't all driving fancy European cars and living in mansions. Somehow, I really don't have much of a problem if people take money out of their deep pockets.
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And you can't say that they need that money to produce good movies. some of the best films are given next to no budget at all. movies are supposed to be an art form, not a money making schiem, same thing with music. they wouldn't need as much money if they didnt have the money to throw around. and don't get me started on Microsoft. They took a big math equation and said no one but them could use it.
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Podcasters Rejoice
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uh
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Well
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Format Change
The music industry used to LIVE off of format changes. Selling the same license in different formats - LP to Tape to CD. They thought SACD was going to be the next format change and they were surprised in the consumer rejection (as SACD had DRM in that Digital Outs were forbidden) and that consumers chose to modify the format on their own - to MP3. A format the industry could not control.
The reason the music industry is "suffering" is because they actually have to create NEW content worth buying to make a profit. The old catalogs are not as valuable.
The movie industry is SCARED to DEATH of a similar scenario. They believe they can stop it with laws. However, the ability to modify format is now embedded in the consumer mindset. They need to give the customer what he wants - a single license for all formats - and create a price point to satisfy their industry and the market.
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