Latest Idea To Fix DRM: Give It A New Name

from the yeah,-that's-the-ticket dept

Fri, May 11th 2007 4:23am — Carlo Longino

Since repeating the claim that DRM enables things for consumers isn't making it true, an HBO has a new idea: scrap the term DRM in favor of DCE. DCE, of course, standing for Digital Consumer Enablement. He says he doesn't want to use the term DRM any longer, not since consumers have come to understand that all it does it limit how they can playback and enjoy legally purchased media, but because it doesn't apparently express clearly just how wonderful the technology is. For instance, he says HBO is ready to roll out HD movies on demand, but "can't", because people might somehow copy them through the analog hole of component connections, which HBO or cable operators aren't allowed to disable. That's his example of DRM "enabling" a new service, and it's as weak as usual. A lack of suitable, wonderful, lovely DRM isn't holding up this service, but rather HBO's blind and dumb insistence on it, even though impracticality does a better job than technology of stopping HD movie piracy, and of, course, DRM doesn't stop piracy anyway.

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36 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2007 @ 5:02am

If I hadnt read the new link I'd think you made "Digital Consumer Enablement" as a joke.
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BePositive, 11 May 2007 @ 5:03am

Call it "Windscale"
nt
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Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2007 @ 5:46am

More like "Digital Consumer Entrapment".
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ScaredOfTheMan, 11 May 2007 @ 5:51am

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

and Digital Consumer Enablement is good for the consumer
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David Canton, 11 May 2007 @ 5:52am

Note sure who DRM enables - its certainly not the consumer.
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Lewis Salem, 11 May 2007 @ 5:55am

Whoa!
Oh no! Well I'm just going to stop downloading episodes of the Sopranos right now! Zitter you rascal you!
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thecaptain, 11 May 2007 @ 6:08am

Ah I see....
Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before,"

Well that's certainly true. DRM..uhh..DCE I mean would certainly allow me to watch content with a ton of annoying issues added in, whereas before, I really had no reason to be annoyed, no hassles at all and I could watch what I wanted, when and where I wanted if I paid for it.

Thanks HBO!
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Overcast, 11 May 2007 @ 6:10am

Doublespeak~
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YouKnowNothing, 11 May 2007 @ 6:13am

Re:
Hear, hear.
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Don Wood, 11 May 2007 @ 6:15am

DRM
Talk is cheap. Stop buying and see if they see the error of their ways. My God! You people cry all the way to the store to buy their crap. Shit or get off the pot!
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Frank, 11 May 2007 @ 6:18am

I snorted my soda when I first read what "DCE" stood for.

Seriously, when can we start beating these morons with a sturdy tree branch?
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Sanguine Dream, 11 May 2007 @ 6:41am

LOL!!
I know that LOL is borderline childish but come on. Digital Consumer Enablement? What marketing twerp came up with that nonsense?
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Dosquatch, 11 May 2007 @ 6:53am

Pushing back
Some helpful soul over on /. suggested that the appropriate response is to give piracy the kinder, gentler name "Consumer Choice Enablement" - The content I choose, on the device I choose, for the price I choose.
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Patryk J, 11 May 2007 @ 7:00am

Re: Whoa!
LMFAO! Hahaha!!
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Patryk J, 11 May 2007 @ 7:02am

Re:
DCE double plus good!
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AJ, 11 May 2007 @ 7:07am

bah
They sure know how to keep the hackers busy, hell, there creating an entire new market. Maybe we should thank them really, because if there stuff wasn't bogged down with DRM, I may actually pay for it instead of using a variety of methods to download it for free.
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Shohat, 11 May 2007 @ 7:07am

The amazing
The amazing thing is that while everyone and their mother whines about "outdated models", the industry itself has never been more powerful, and never in the history of the world did artists made so much money.
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JoRogan, 11 May 2007 @ 7:16am

Re: DRM
They "cry" as you call it because they are trying to spread the word. If that person did not buy HBO, HBO would still have its new DCE technology. Thats because the people that don't know anything about DRM like restrictions will still support HBO.

So whats the problem with said person for trying to spread the word?
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MikeVx, 11 May 2007 @ 7:33am

DCE actually stands for...
Disabling Consumer Experience.
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Wyatt, 11 May 2007 @ 7:47am

Humm..
"The amazing thing is that while everyone and their mother whines about "outdated models", the industry itself has never been more powerful, and never in the history of the world did artists made so much money."

Hummm, the artists are being ripped off man.. I've heard things saying that they actually receive somewhere in the range of 10% or less of what is made from their art. The artists are not outspoken about DRM, it’s the companies that rip of the artists that do. This seems a little odd to me.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2007 @ 7:52am

"Hummm, the artists are being ripped off man.. I've heard things saying that they actually receive somewhere in the range of 10% or less of what is made from their art."

Sadly, it's closer to 2-3%.
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Amyloo, 11 May 2007 @ 8:02am

I got it!
Call it "The Patriot Act."
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T.J., 11 May 2007 @ 8:12am

What Happened to Consumer First?
The more and more DRM (errrr....DCE) gets pushed into our lives, the more society will push back. I for one 100% stopped supporting the MPAA, RIAA, and any other company that wants to limits my rights to do whatever I want with the thigns I purchase. Its so easy just to avoid the hassle of DRM altogether when you can just get your media from other, DRM free sources (although "illegaly"). Even my own mom, who doesn't even know what DRM stands for, started getting her movies from Blockbuster and the library and just copying them. Its just a matter of how much crap consumers will put up with before they just say f*** it, its worth the risk to not put up with the hassle these companies give you.

Why don't companies understand is that when people see HBO will be offering "free" HD movies on demand (providing you pay for HBO), more people will congregate towards its service and pay the associated fee. But when people see theres fine print and limits placed on the service, people will hesitate to pay for that.
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GoblinJuice, 11 May 2007 @ 8:58am

ROTFLMAO! Literally.
I fell out of my chair, onto the floor, laughing when I read "Digital Consumer Enablement".

Literally.

It's sorta like calling a whore an "escort". ;-)

Hm.

So, every time a chic won't give me her number/addy/whatever... she's not RESTRICTING me, she's ENABLING... me to find another chic?

I get it!
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 11 May 2007 @ 9:38am

Another possible acronism
Decapitated Consumer Expectations
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awm, 11 May 2007 @ 10:26am

The real question....
In my opinion, the real question is why does "the industry" think we are so stupid to believe this garbage they peddle?
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Anonymous Poster (profile), 11 May 2007 @ 10:30am

I think ArsTechnica said it best: "A turd by any other name smells just as foul."
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Beefcake, 11 May 2007 @ 12:04pm

My Two Cents on the Acronym
Digital Consumer Excrement
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Obsidian, 11 May 2007 @ 12:20pm

Re:
"Sadly, it's closer to 2-3%."

Actually, I don't think it's even that much. According to the research I've done, the average musician for a major record label makes on average of 10 cents off of a $20.00 album. An Album costs $0.25 to produce, and the retailers make 3 or 4 dollars off of it. The rest of the money goes to the record label and the RI(p-off)AA. Artists are getting screwed over in ways most people can't even imagine.
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Hidden Force, 11 May 2007 @ 1:07pm

1984+23
George Orwell had nothing on this guy.

How doubleplus unsmart.
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Buzz, 11 May 2007 @ 2:03pm

OMG
DCE = Dumb, Crappy, and Evil

Mike, where are you? I agree with another guy who commented on another Techdirt blog. I want to see you describe a society completely run by DRM and crappy copyright laws. You do an excellent job of describing a wonderful world free of silly restrictions; I'd like to hear about a dark world infested with dictators who feel they have the right to control how we receive our digital entertainment. Show us a world where the NFL actually CAN sue somebody for just talking about a football game's events.
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Corporations of America, 11 May 2007 @ 2:26pm

Don't worry! Re: OMG
Just give us a few more years. We won't need Mike to show you our dark world.

Regards,

Corporations of America
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Charles Griswold, 13 May 2007 @ 6:34pm

Re: DRM
Talk is cheap. Stop buying and see if they see the error of their ways.

I did. They didn't.

My God! You people cry all the way to the store to buy their crap.

Not me. I don't buy crap. I find ways to entertain myself that don't involve giving money to the evil corporate conglomerates.
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Charles Griswold, 13 May 2007 @ 6:39pm

Re: ROTFLMAO! Literally.
I fell out of my chair, onto the floor, laughing when I read "Digital Consumer Enablement".

It's sorta like calling a whore an "escort". ;-)

If I were a whore, I think I'd resent being compared to the DRM pushers.
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Charles Griswold, 13 May 2007 @ 6:42pm

Re: The real question....
In my opinion, the real question is why does "the industry" think we are so stupid to believe this garbage they peddle?

Because . . . most people are? Or, if not stupid, then ignorant.
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thecaptain, 14 May 2007 @ 6:28am

Perfect!
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070514

Perfect!

Yup, I'm all for "consumer choice enhancement"
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