DRM Industry Gets Defensive Over Steve Jobs' Comments

from the DRM-makes-things-more-valuable? dept

Fri, Feb 16th 2007 1:26pm — Mike Masnick

It would appear that the DRM industry is starting to get a bit defensive about that whole Steve Jobs doesn't like DRM thing. Boing Boing points out that DRM maker Macrovision has written its own response to Steve Jobs where it tries to explain that he misunderstands DRM. Apparently, according to Macrovision, DRM really increases the value of content while decreasing the cost. This is one of those up is down, night is day type arguments -- but it's certainly not new. Macrovision has been claiming the same thing for many years. Four years ago they were talking about how DRM would make it so CDs and DVDs would be much more valuable, and would allow for differentiation, so consumers who just wanted the content could get it cheaper and those who wanted more could pay more. Of course, in the four years, that hasn't exactly happened. Instead, all that DRM has done is make the cost of producing CDs (and DVDs) more expensive (which is why some movie studios have been ditching Macrovision's DRM on their DVDs) while making the experience less convenient for consumers. It seems like Macrovision is starting with a few different assumptions that are false, including that DRM actually protects content, and that ruins the rest of the company's argument.

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12 Comments

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charlie potatoes, 16 Feb 2007 @ 1:46pm

musings...
sounds like petitio principii to me......god, ive waited a long time to use that one.... hehe..
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Sanguine Dream, 16 Feb 2007 @ 1:55pm

I would love...
to sit and have a conversation with some of these people that actually thinks DRM makes content more valuable.

Kinda like those people that think gays would "ruin the sacred bond of marriage" if gay marriage was legalized.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Feb 2007 @ 1:56pm

By being consumers of DRM media, we give up liberty.
Ben Franklin once said:
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
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- Ben, 16 Feb 2007 @ 2:38pm
  
  Re:
  Yeah, and I'm sure consumerism is what he had in mind when he spoke of giving up Liberty.
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Adam, 16 Feb 2007 @ 3:02pm

Macrovision has always been a problem even in the analog days of VHS - they're full of shit and they know it. What other choices do the have but to defend their business? Even though time after time their protection gets broken and the time has proven that copy protection doesn't actually help anyone but actually hurts customers and doesn't stop piracy.

A.
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Erv, 16 Feb 2007 @ 4:36pm

losing business
Hopefully one day soon Macrovision will be Outofbusinessvision
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Krum, 16 Feb 2007 @ 5:47pm

Does Macrovision work?
I remember when Macrovision was an annoyance on my old VCR but in trying to back up any of my own DVD's I've never noticed it doing anything aside from being a logo on the first screen. Has their digital product ever worked?
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Vincent Clement (profile), 16 Feb 2007 @ 7:22pm

I Laugh at Macrovision
I've been able to disable Macrovision on my DVD player and I've been able to rip DVDs with Macrovision removed. Bye Bye Macrovision. Thankfully, your time has come and gone.
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Bignumone, 18 Feb 2007 @ 4:29am

How do you disable Macrovision?
Yeah, like this Macrovision guy has nothing to gain. It would be like Exxon saying that burning their oil actually cleans the atmosphere. We should believe him because he is just a concerned citizen.

I remember Macrovision actually ruining my VD, DVD and VHS "experience" by making the picture fade in and out slightly. I have not seen that in years.
How do you "disable" macrovision anyhow? I didn't know that was possible.
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Anurag Saxena, 19 Feb 2007 @ 1:02am

DRM will be Dead soon
LOL..no matter what the DRM companies say, it is clear that DRM will be dead soon...sooner than they expect. Digital Fingerprinting is the way to go!
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Maximus, 19 Feb 2007 @ 8:31am

DRM is dying, not yet dead
DRM is don't dead yet, my friends. As long as copyrights exist, copyright owners will try to somehow protect their content.

In the end, DRM does its job, but there are too many alternative illegal sources out there that are largely not policed, easily accessed, and comparable (or better) in quality than the legal stuff. This is what has to change.

Now, I'm not calling for an end to p2p. No, that would make me cry... What I'm calling for is a new value-added scheme. Stop differentiating by adding DRM; do so by adding value! For example, bundling purchased music with discounted concert tix or something. That way, I'll want to buy the music/movies.

Come check out my blog for more musings on this: http://www.maxhenderson.com
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peeru, 1 Dec 2008 @ 12:52am

jobs
this is a best jobs website http://super-jobs.blogspot.com
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