Ubisoft's Authentication Servers Go Down: Via Slashdot.

ZuchinniOne writes "With Ubisoft's fantastically awful new DRM you must be online and logged in to their servers to play the games you buy. Not only was this DRM broken the very first day it was released, but now their authentication servers have failed so absolutely that no-one who legally bought their games can play them. 'At around 8am GMT, people began to complain in the Assassin's Creed 2 forum that they couldn't access the Ubisoft servers and were unable to play their games.' One can only hope that this utter failure will help to stem the tide of bad DRM."

Read Original Article:(Via Slashdot.)

DMCA Muscle Strong-Arms DVD Copying: Via Threat Level.

Those awaiting a legitimate method to duplicate DVDs for personal use likely will have to wait even longer, perhaps forever, after RealNetworks tossed in the white towel and abandoned litigation toward that end.

RealNetworks spent almost two years in a legal battle with the Motion Picture Association of America, which sued the Seattle-based company to block the sale of its DVD-copying software and hardware –- generally known as RealDVD. The company said late Wednesday it was dropping its appeal of an August federal court decision that declared RealDVD an illegal violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

The act, which the Hollywood studios strongly lobbied for, prohibits the circumvention of encryption technology. DVDs are encrypted with what is known as the Content Scramble System, and DVD players must secure a license to play discs. RealDVD, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled, circumvents the CSS technology designed to prevent copying and is therefore a breach of the CSS license.

The litigation cost RealNetworks millions of dollars, including $4.5 million to reimburse the MPAA for its legal costs. The outcome cost Rob Glaser, RealNetworks’ CEO, his job. [ Read more ... ]

YouTube's Content ID (C)ensorship Problem Illustrated | Electronic Frontier Foundation: Via EFF - Electronic Frontier Foundation.

As we've pointed out repeatedly, poor design decisions in YouTube's "Content ID" system have resulted in over-blocking of videos that remix copyrighted materials. Today we got perhaps the most vivid example of the problem: the "silencing" of a lecture by Prof. Larry Lessig about the cultural importance of remix creativity. This is just the latest of many examples. We've been on YouTube's case for more than two years about this problem, and it's high time for YouTube to fix the Content ID system to respect the kinds of fair uses that are at the heart of remix creativity.

How did Prof. Lessig's video trigger the Content ID block? He included "snippets" (I use that word intentionally, as Google does in the context of its own Book Search product, to refer to small portions that should qualify as a fair use) from several remix videos. [ Read more ... ]

Know Before You Go: Tickets May Come at a Higher Price Than You Realize: Via EFF.org Updates.

As part of our Terms of Ab(use) project, we pay close attention to the fine print of online agreements for provisions that are potentially dangerous to consumers. We've noticed a troubling change in the way event planners restrict the rights of individuals who attend their shows. Where once these limitations had to fit on the back of a ticket, increasingly event organizers have moved their fine print online, where they are able to use even more contract law to avoid the limits of trademark and copyright law and actively control what ticket holders can say or do even after the event is over.

These burdensome terms can show up in some pretty unexpected places. Last year we noted how the Burning Man Organization (BMO) used online ticket terms to require participants to assign to BMO—in advance—the copyright to any pictures they took on the playa. Tickets for the 2010 event went on sale in mid-January, and we hoped the new terms would acknowledge the concerns we had expressed. Sadly, the new terms are just as onerous as before. [ Read more ... ]

Senator Demands IP Treaty Details: Via Threat Level.

That a U.S. senator must ask a federal agency to share information regarding a proposed and “classified” international anti-counterfeiting accord the government has already disclosed is alarming. Especially when the info has been given to Hollywood, the recording industry, software makers and even some digital-rights groups.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is demanding that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk confirm leaks surrounding the unfinished Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, being negotiated largely between the European Union and United States. Among other things, Wyden wants to know if the deal creates international guidelines that mean consumers lose internet access if they are believed to be digital copyright scofflaws.

He also wants to know whether internet service providers could lose “safe harbor” protection for failing to police their customers’ digital content for copyright infringement violations. Such a move would heap copyright liability onto the ISP, and fundamentally alter U.S. copyright law.

What “legal incentives,” Wyden asked Kirk in a Wednesday letter, would “encourage Online Service Providers (OSPs) to cooperate with copyright owners to deter the unauthorized storage or transmission of copyrighted materials.”

The questions came weeks after leaked documents from the European Union suggested the United States was taking those positions on the accord’s draft internet section. [ Read more ... ]

TV Everywhere: Collusion Anywhere?: Via Freedom to Tinker.

FreePress and the National Cable and Telecom Association (NCTA) are talking past each other about TV Everywhere, a new initiative from the cable TV industry. FreePress says TV Everywhere is the cable industry's collusive attempt to limit competition; the NCTA says it's an exciting new product opportunity for consumers. Let's unpack this issue and see who might have a point, and who is blowing smoke.

We're at a critical point in the history of television. In recent years, most people have gotten TV shows from a traditional cable or satellite service. Now more and more people are getting shows on the Internet. Cable companies need to adapt, somehow, or become dinosaurs.

Which brings us to TV Everywhere. The idea, according to the NCTA, is for cable companies to offer their residential subscribers online access to the same shows they get at home. Existing consumers get more, at no extra charge -- who would complain about that? -- but only if they keep buying traditional cable service.

FreePress tells a different story, in which cable industry companies have agreed among themselves that this is their sole Internet distribution strategy. If such an agreement exists, it is problematic -- it looks like a classic market division agreement, which is bad for consumers and (as I understand it) presumptively illegal. [ Read more ... ]

Will they ever learn? Hollywood still pursuing DRM: Via Freedom to Tinker.

In today's New York Times, we read that Hollywood is working on a grand unified video DRM scheme intended to allow for video portability, such as, for example, when you visit a hotel room, you'd like to have your videos with you.

What's sad, of course, is that you can have all of this today with very little fuss. I use iTiVo to extract videos from my TiVo, transcoding them to an iPhone-compatible format. I similarly use Fairmount to rip DVDs to my hard drive, making them easy to play later without worrying about the physical media getting damaged or lost. But if I want to download video, I have no easy mechanism to download non-DRM content. BitTorrent gives access to many things, including my favorite Top Gear, which I cannot get through any other channel, but many things I'd like aren't available, and of course, there's the whole legality issue. [ Read more ... ]

Hackers claim victory in cracking Amazon Kindle DRM: Via Computerworld Security News.

Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader is coming under assault by hackers, who say they've figured out ways to export protected content for use on other devices.

Amazon sells content for the Kindle in an ".azw" format, some of which is has DRM (digital rights management) technology, which prevents a file from being transferred to an unauthorized device.

But one hacker, who goes by the handle "I love cabbages," with a heart to designate "love," developed a program called "Unswindle" that can convert books stored in the Kindle for PC application into a different file format that can then be imported to another device. Unswindle must be used with MobiDeDRM, another hacker program that can convert protected Amazon content. [ Read more ... ]

Satellite TV to FCC: we're special, don't make us open up: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

If you've tried to pump your fully-paid-up cable connection into, say, a computer running Windows Media Center, you've probably come up against the closed nature of pay-TV and the severe limitations of CableCARD. And what about satellite TV? Don't even think about it.

The FCC wants to blow open the market for third-party video devices, scrapping some of the current (failed) CableCARD rules and adding satellite providers to the list. [ Read more ... ]

Defeating Microsoft BitLocker: Via Schneier on Security.

Defeating BitLocker, even with a TPM.

Related.

Read Original Article:(Via Schneier on Security.)

Erroneous DMCA notices and copyright enforcement, part deux: Via Freedom to Tinker.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a deluge of DMCA notices and pre-settlement letters that CoralCDN experienced in late August. This article actually received a bit of press, including MediaPost, ArsTechnica, TechDirt, and, very recently, Slashdot. I'm glad that my own experience was able to shed some light on the more insidious practices that are still going on under the umbrella of copyright enforcement. More transparency is especially important at this time, given the current debate over the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Given this discussion, I wanted to write a short follow-on to my previous post. [ Read more ... ]

The VPA drops Nexicon

MPAA to FCC: critics of video blocking proposals are lying: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

The movie studios have a new Holy Grail, it seems: Federal Communications Commission permission to cable companies to shut down the analog streams on video-on-demand movie programming. As Ars readers know, we've been covering this issue for a while. But the Motion Picture Association of America's latest letter to the FCC pulls out all the stops, rhetoric-wise, calling criticisms of this scheme "complete and utter nonsense that only can be intended to stir up baseless fears among consumers that their equipment will suddenly go dark and be unusable for any purpose." [ Read more ... ]

DVD Customers are Not DVD Pirates: Via EFF.org Updates.

I've published an op-ed over at The Wrap, a leading blog for Hollywood insiders. It makes the point that Hollywood's attacks on DVD innovators (RealDVD, Kaleidescape, Redbox) amount to an attack on legitimate DVD customers who are trying to pay for content that they could almost as easily download for free from unauthorized sources. So, when Hollywood complains about "piracy," some of that is a self-inflicted wound: [ Read more ... ]

DRM by any other name: The latest from Hollywood: Via Freedom to Tinker.

Sunday's New York Times had an article, Studios' Quest for Life After DVDs. To nobody's surprise, consumers want to have convenient access to "their" media, wherever they happen to be, without all the annoying restrictions that come into play when you add DRM to the picture. To many people's surprise, sales of DVDs (much less Blu-ray) are in trouble.

In the third quarter, studios’ home entertainment divisions generated about $4 billion, down 3.2 percent from a year ago, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, a trade consortium. But digital distribution contributed just $420 million, an increase of 18 percent.

Given that DVDs are really a luxury good (versus, say, food or electricity), the 3.2 percent drop seems like Hollywood is getting off easy. [ Read more ... ]

FCC proposes network neutrality rules (and big exemptions): Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

As expected, the FCC laid out its draft network neutrality rules at an open meeting today. Despite the partial dissent of the two Republican commissioners, the pro-neutrality faction has won a major rhetorical battle; even its toughest opponents sing the praises of a "free and open Internet."

The draft rules are short, taking up less than two pages of text. At their heart are the four existing "Internet freedoms" that the FCC approved back in 2005:

Read Original Article:(Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.)

Is Net Neutrality a FCC Trojan Horse?: Via EFF.org Updates.

On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to unveil draft rules aimed at imposing network neutrality obligations on Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In the excitement surrounding the announcement, however, many have overlooked the fact that the this rulemaking is built on a shoddy and dangerous foundation – the idea that the FCC has unlimited authority to regulate the Internet.

Genachowski has announced that the draft regulations will require ISPs to abide by the "Four Freedoms" set forth in the FCC's 2005 Internet Policy Statement, as well as the additional principles of nondiscrimination and transparency. EFF strongly believes in these six principles. Our work speaks for itself: we are developing software tools to Test Your ISP in the wake of uncovering Comcast’s meddling with BitTorrent traffic, seeking a DMCA exemption to let you run applications of your choice on your mobile phone, and fighting Hollywood’s efforts to force DRM restrictions into your television. [ Read more ... ]

The Copyright Lobby's Secret Pressure On the Anti-Spam Bill: Via Michael Geist's blog.

As I posted earlier today, the Electronic Commerce Protection Act comes to a conclusion in committee on Monday as MPs conduct their "clause by clause" review.  While I have previously written about the lobbying pressure to water down the legislation (aided and abetted by the Liberal and Bloc MPs on the committee) and the CMA's recent effort to create a huge loophole, I have not focused on a key source of the pressure.  Incredibly, it has been the copyright lobby - particularly the software and music industries - that has been engaged in a full court press to make significant changes to the bill.

The copyright lobby's interest in the bill has been simmering since its introduction, with lobbyists attending the committee hearings and working with Liberal and Bloc MPs to secure changes.  The two core concerns arise from fears that the bill could prevent surreptitious use of DRM and block enforcement initiatives that might involve accessing users' personal computers without their permission. [ Read more ... ]

Hollywood Pressuring FCC on Selectable Output Control Again: Via EFF.org Updates.

Our friends at Public Knowledge have been doing a great job in Washington, D.C., fighting against the MPAA's efforts to selectively disable the high-definition analog (i.e., "component" video) outputs on your cable box. In essence, Hollywood is telling the FCC that it won't give Americans early access to blockbuster movies unless the FCC lets it kill your analog outputs.

Public Knowledge has an update today, letting us know that Hollywood is back at the FCC pushing for this anti-consumer, anti-innovation change in the FCC rules: [ Read more ... ]

NSW seeks to build 'unhackable' netbook network: Via Security - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au.

The NSW Department of Education is using asset-tracking software, RFID tags, and BIOS-embedded filtering smarts to roll out 240,000 netbook computers into what CIO Stephen Wilson calls "the most hostile environment you can roll computers into" - the local high school.

The rollout of Lenovo netbooks, funded under the Federal Government's Digital Education Revolution initiative, is a massive logistical and IT security challenge, and the solution Wilson and his team has put together to address these issues could well be applicable to any corporate IT department. [ Read more ... ]

Hey, TI, Leave Those Kids Alone: Via EFF.org Updates.

Graphing calculators have long inspired geeks in remarkable ways. But, sadly, rather than celebrating the hobbyists that love their programmable calculators, Texas Instruments has set the lawyers loose on them, invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The story is a familiar one: hobbyists started tinkering with their calculators, intent on improving them, much like gearheads have been doing with cars for generations. But TI’s programmable graphing calculators perform a signature check that only allows a signed operating system to be loaded onto the hardware. That didn't stop our intrepid tinkers, however. Researchers used distributed computing to perform a brute-force cryptanalysis of the public keys embedded in each model of calculator to derive the corresponding private keys. (When the keys were discovered, people in the programmer community were excited. Some saw this as the first real world example of "angry mob cryptanalysis," an attack by a bunch of people getting together on the Internet to crack your key.) [ Read more ... ]

License to Kill Innovation: the Broadcast Flag for UK Digital TV?: Via EFF.org Updates.

The British MP Tom Watson has highlighted a digital TV consultation by UK regulator Ofcom, held in response to an inquiry from the BBC (the consultation deadline is this Wednesday):

The BBC has indicated that third party content owners are seeking to ensure that reception equipment will implement ... copy protection. Because [these] requirements are not mandatory, representatives of content owners have asked the BBC to take steps to ensure that reception equipment will implement the specified content management arrangements.

Veterans of the broadcast flag battle in the United States will recognise this language: rightsholders are once again attempting to use the power of the public regulators to force universal DRM on the general public, and place their veto power over the next generation of HD digital TV technology. [ Read more ... ]

Movie studios again demand HDTV disabling powers from FCC: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

Hollywood's bid to force a yet-to-be-agreed-upon number of households to buy new home theater gear is back in business. The Motion Picture Association of America has once again asked the Federal Communications Commission for the right to selectively control output streams to the TV entertainment systems of consumers. "The pro-consumer purpose" (!) request "is to enable movie studios to offer millions of Americans in-home access to high-value, high definition video content," three MPAA biggies explained during a meeting they held with seven FCC Media Bureau staffers last Thursday. [ Read more ... ]

Judge Rules Against RealDVD: Via EFF.org Updates.

UPDATE: Just one day after Judge Patel's ruling against RealDVD, a California appeals court has ruled against Kaleidescape, reversing the lower court and sending that case back for a fresh determination of whether Kaleidescape violated the terms of the DVD-CCA license. More bad news for innovators who want to bring legitimate consumers DVD jukebox products.

Judge Patel (who also handled Napster and Bernstein cases) has granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the major motion picture studios and DVD-CCA in their legal battle with Real Networks over its RealDVD products.

The case involves the legality of two products intended to allow DVD owners to make digital copies onto hard drives for later playback. One product, which Real briefly offered until being hit with a temporary restraining order in November 2008, was software intended for use on a personal computer. The second, which never made it out of prototype, was a "video jukebox" that combined DVD player and a hard drive -- what Real hoped would be a sub-$300 competitor for the fantastic (and fantastically expensive) Kaleidescape media server. [ Read more ... ]

The Future of Book Banning?: Via EFF.org Updates.

Farhad Manjoo over at Slate has written the best summation to date on Amazon's 1984 scandal, in which digital versions of the Orwell classic were surreptitiously removed from users' Kindles without their permission.

Amazon has apologized and promised never to delete books in this fashion in the future. But Manjoo points out that the real lesson here is that the power to delete digital books remotely exists in the first place: [ Read more ... ]

Big Content: ludicrous to expect DRMed music to work forever: Via Law & Disorder Section - Ars Technica.

When Wal-Mart announced in 2008 that it was pulling down the DRM servers behind its (nearly unused) online music store, the Internet suffered a collective aneurysm of outrage, eventually forcing the retail giant to run the servers for another year. Buying DRMed content, then having that content neutered a few months later, seemed to most consumers not to be fair. [ Read more ... ]