Apple Adds HDCP To New Laptops; Piracy Continues, Legit Users Get Annoyed
from the yes,-again dept
It appears that Apple has begun using HDCP copy protection technology on some content it sells through the iTunes Music Store, and implementing it in its latest laptops. HDCP "protects" content as it travels across different types of connections, and is generally implemented in such a way that an HDCP-compliant source won't play content on a non-HDCP compliant connected display. So HDCP-ified content can't be played on a number of older displays, or ones that don't use one of the compatible types of connections.You know how this thing goes down: movie studios insist on some new magic method to protect their content from piracy, it gets implemented, does nothing to stop piracy (sometimes even helps pirates), and ends up getting in the way for legitimate customers. In this instance, a guy who'd bought a movie from iTunes tried to play it over a projector connected to his Mac via a VGA connection; instead of being able to enjoy the content he'd legitimately purchased in a reasonable way, he was greeted with an error message. So here's a customer who legitimately purchased some content, and is being stopped from enjoying it in a perfectly reasonable, legitimate and legal way. Once again, it's puzzling to see content and technology companies implement these roadblocks to frustrate their paying customers. What's the incentive for this guy to pay to download a movie, rather than download a pirated version that he can watch on his projector? Apparently, it bears repeating for content and device companies: you don't stop piracy by annoying your paying customers.
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
Filed Under: copy protection, drm, hdcp, itunes
Companies: apple
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Amen!
The only thing that is keeping any revenue going to the movie companies is that more people don't know how to use torrents. Sadly, instead of training people to use legit methods of acquiring movies, all the movie industry is doing is training a new generation to not pay for their material.
At some point they'll wake up. The question is will it be too late.
Freedom
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Amen!
it was too late 5 years ago. the war was lost when napster was shutdown and piracy grew instead of shrinking. right now, it's practically effortless to copy anything digital, and it's only going to get easier.
all the hardware and software DRM in the world won't make a lick of difference because pirated stuff is not DRM'd. it either never was, or the DRM was stripped prior to upload.
you can implement all of this trusted computing stuff if you want, but it's only going to increase the market for open hardware and software.
this document here explains why DRM is bad for everyone:
http://www.craphound.com/msftdrm.txt
it works like this: a consumer buys a dvd or CD. then he/she goes to play it on the unauthorized/unsupported player (a projector, old/cheap dvd player, old laptop/game console, etc.) and fails.
he/she tries a few things, gives up, and downloads an unrestricted copy from an unauthorized source. in the future, what's the incentive to buy the legitimate copy in the first place?
i that scenario, drm not only fails to stop piracy, it actually encourages it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Time to start reading books again.
FUCKING ASSHATS!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
uh?
There's a number of reasons they are crap. Overcharging, DRM and restrictive software are just 3 of the many. add HDCP to the pile.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
On a serious note though, I have given DRM a shot; Conclusion it is bad. There is nothing that will stop someone from copying "Not stealing, at most devaluing" any kind of content that hits a client, whether the client be a web browser, a media player, my TV.
Personal Happenings: I bought spore, hard drive got corupted I then tried to re-install (Via EA Download) and it blocked me. SO I said F* you, I will get it DRM free and for free. I still paid for the content. On a different occasion, I had bought Rainbow 6: Vegas via Direct Download, it worked at first, then I had re-installed windows; downloaded the game again, now it will not accept my key! Not going to re-download that game, it was horrible buggy on the PC.
Point is, do not go after the people who buy your content, or even download your content. go after the people who truly de-value your content, people who distribute it wrongfully.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ugh, no
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
surprise?
So, you know that a legitimate copy of movie Z will not play on your setup, what do you do? don't buy the movie. It's not surprising that people simply buy pirated copies. I don't approve or do it, but in my book the movie people are asking for people to steal.
One big reason why I haven't bought a blu-ray is the players are so riddled with DRM that playing a new legitimate blu-ray disc may or may not work and you're out of luck. Why pay $40 for a movie you can't watch when you can buy DVD and at least watch it for half that?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Here's some dated ones but I'll bet you dedicated web surfers can dig up the surefire hack. As TechDirt says, this only serves to annoy legitimate customers.
http://www.engadget.com/2005/07/21/the-clicker-hdcps-shiny-red-button/
http://www.p spsps.tv/2007/05/bypass_bluray_copy_protection.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A-holes
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I have been training...
No need to copy to dvds any longer. Thanks MPAA for showing everyone the way to NEVER paying for ANY movies.
:) the Happy TPBer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I have been training...
PS I love it how I can download full seasons of tv shows and albums faster on private trackers than I could legitimately buying the content.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
**AA=fucktards.
A.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's a stupid implementation of DRM
But even more importantly, Apple is going far beyond what is required by the movie industry by just flatly not playing the content just because a "non-compliant" display is connected. The user still is permitted to display the content in HD on any so-called compliant display (such as the laptop screen), or the content could be downsampled to 480p (or possibly some higher resolution) on the non-compliant display.
Frankly, I'm surprised and annoyed that Apple has gone with the most simplistic implementation of DRM, that goes way beyond what is required by the content industry, let alone the end-user's actual fair-use rights.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'm starting to get the feeling this is all a conspiracy
It has to be a conspiracy, there is no way all these businesses are this moronic
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old school Tech
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Apple Makes It Kewl!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Are there any good Mac options that truly do the same thing?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's not working! How can they not get it?!?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Legal and legitimate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Legal and legitimate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Losing Control
All content protection does is annoy the paying customer who either wants to watch the content on the device of their choice, wants to make a backup copy or who wants to make a Divx/Xvid copy for use in their child's portable DVD player.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.hdfury.com/
Strips out HDCP protection.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Legal and legitimate
No law gives them the privilege and no law is needed - its their content, they can do what they want to it and try to sell it. However, the DMCA makes it "illegal" to break any type of copyright protection measure even for perfectly legitimate legal uses.
What this does is turn ordinary people into criminals and dilute the power of the law. It teaches us that laws are completely arbitrary in our society, that they are not there for our protection or to promote good - but to protect huge corporations that cannot adapt to a changing world.
If you know you're going to be a criminal anyway, why not save yourself the hassle and simply download the content without paying for it in the first place. An unintended effect of the law, but an effect that anyone could have predicted (and people did predict it before the law was passed). It even makes it so that people feel good about breaking the law by "sticking it to the man" or "defying the evil corporate pigs" or whatever phrase appeals to your particular viewpoint.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why is this called anti-piracy?
This is what anti-piracy fails to live up to its name...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]