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DRM Not Dead, Just Temporarily Indisposed, Says RIAA Tech Head - Via Freedom to Tinker:
The RIAA’s head technology guy says that the move away from DRM (anti-copying) technology by record labels is just a phase, according to a Greg Sandoval story at News.com:
“(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music, and 20 of them still require DRM,” said David Hughes, who heads up the RIAA’s technology unit, during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference. “Any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead.”
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Last January, when Sony BMG became the last major recording company to sell DRM-free tracks at Amazon, plenty of observers considered the technology buried. Since then, a growing number of online stores have begun offering at least some open MP3s, including Walmart.com, Zune’s Marketplace, Amazon, as well as iTunes.
Not so fast, said Hughes, who predicted that DRM would reemerge in a big way. “I think there is going to be a shift,” he told the audience. “I think there will be a movement towards subscription services, and (that) will eventually mean the return of DRM.”
The imminent success of subscription services with DRM is more or less what the record industry was predicting several years ago. read more »
MSN Music Debacle Highlights EULA Dangers - Via EFF: Deep Links:
When Microsoft announced that it will no longer support former MSN Music customers who want to play their DRM disabled music on new computers, DRM-hating consumer advocates justifiably cried out, “I told you so!” But this debacle is not just another example of the dangers of DRM: its also a reminder of the danger of overreaching end user license agreements, or EULAs
Just as DRM allows unprecedented corporate control over music and movies, the EULAs that Microsoft and other content vendors force users to click through before downloading songs, shows or films help enforce and expand that control. For example, EULAs usually claim that whatever happens, you can't sue the company--even for problems that are entirely of the company’s own making. And EULAs are often used to try to limit a company’s obligation to live up to its apparent promises. read more »
Judge in Murdoch Hacker Trial Admonishes CEO - Via Threat Level:
A California judge overseeing the trial against a Rupert Murdoch company for allegedly hacking a competitor and helping pirates steal pay-TV content, admonished the CEO of the Murdoch firm for leaving the court without testifying. As a result of the CEO's action, the judge suggested that if his company loses the trial it could face shareholder lawsuits.
Multichannel News reports that U.S. District Court Judge David Carter made the comments on Friday after temporarily halting the trial in mid-testimony and dismissing the jury. read more »
Betrayed MSN Music Customers Deserve More from Microsoft - Via EFF: Breaking News:
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging Microsoft Corporation to fix the problems it will cause when it shuts down the MSN Music validation servers, making it impossible for customers to transfer their music files to new computers or even upgrade their operating system.
In an open letter sent to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer today, EFF outlines five steps Microsoft must take to make things right for MSN Music customers -- including a issuing a public apology, providing refunds or replacement music files, and launching a substantial publicity campaign to make sure all customers know their options.
"MSN Music customers trusted Microsoft when it said that this was a safe way to buy music, and that trust has been betrayed," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "If Microsoft is prepared to treat MSN Music customers like this, is there any reason to suppose that future customers won't get the same treatment?" read more »
MSN Music Pulls the Plug on Customers - Via EFF: Deep Links:
Last week, Microsoft announced that it was leaving the paying customers of its MSN Music store out in the cold. Rob Bennett, the head of MSN Entertainment and Video Services, told customers in an email that “[a]s of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers."
In other words, the DRM copy protection that Microsoft and the major record labels insisted customers put up with has now drastically devalued that music -- at least for consumers who like to regularly upgrade their PCs. Come August 31st, if you buy a new computer, or even upgrade your OS, you’ll have to give up your MSN Music. read more »
Hacker in Murdoch Trial Acknowledges Receiving Money from Murdoch Firm - Via Threat Level:
An American hacker who is at the core of a piracy trial against a Rupert Murdoch subsidiary, testified this week that he created pirating software for the company but did not use it to sabotage the company's rivals. read more »
DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys - Via Ars Technica :
Customers who have purchased music from Microsoft's now-defunct MSN Music store are now facing a decision they never anticipated making: commit to which computers (and OS) they want to authorize forever, or give up access to the music they paid for. Why? Because Microsoft has decided that it's done supporting the service and will be turning off the MSN Music license servers by the end of this summer.
MSN Entertainment and Video Services general manager Rob Bennett sent out an e-mail this afternoon to customers, advising them to make any and all authorizations or deauthorizations before August 31. "As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers," reads the e-mail seen by Ars. read more »
MSN Music DRM Servers Going Dark In September - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
PDQ Back writes to tell us about an email Microsoft sent to former customers of MSN Music today. The company said it would be turning off the DRM servers used to authorize playback of music purchased from the now-defunct MSN Music store. "'As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers,' reads the e-mail. This doesn't just apply to the five different computers that PlaysForSure allows users to authorize, it also applies to operating systems on the same machine (users need to reauthorize a machine after they upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, for example). Once September rolls around, users are committed to whatever five machines they may have authorized — along with whatever OS they are running."
New Lock Aims To End Chip Piracy - Via Slashdot:
Stony Stevenson writes "Pirated microchips based on stolen blueprints could soon be a thing of the past thanks to computer engineers at Rice University and the University of Michigan. The engineers have devised a way to head off this costly infringement by giving each chip its own unique lock and key. The patent holder would hold the keys, and the chip would securely communicate with the patent holder to unlock itself. read more »
How Crypto Won the DVD War - Via Threat Level:
Sony's victory in the DVD format wars was largely due to its embrace and Toshiba's rejection of a sophisticated anti-copying scheme that promises to be relockable should it be cracked at some point in the future.
Toshiba earlier this week announced that it will stop making HD DVD players, surrendering the field in a five-year battle with Sony's Blu-ray to become the disc format of the future.
Support from studios has been widely cited as the reason for Blu-ray's victory, but few consumers know that the studios were likely won over by the presence of a digital lock on movies called BD+, a far more sophisticated and resilient digital rights management, or DRM, system than that offered by HD DVD.
“The adoption of BD+ as part of the Blu-ray disc specification … was a key factor in our decision to publish on the format,” Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment executive Mike Dunn said in a 2007 press release. “This added layer of content protection gives Blu-ray yet another distinct competitive advantage.” read more »
Adobe Pushes DRM for Flash - Via EFF: Deep Links:
The immense popularity of sites like YouTube has unexpectedly turned Flash Video (FLV) into one of the de facto standards for Internet video. The proliferation of sites using FLV has been a boon for remix culture, as creators made their own versions of posted videos. And thus far there has been no widespread DRM standard for Flash or Flash Video formats; indeed, most sites that use these formats simply serve standalone, unencrypted files via ordinary web servers.
Now Adobe, which controls Flash and Flash Video, is trying to change that with the introduction of DRM restrictions in version 9 of its Flash Player and version 3 of its Flash Media Server software. Instead of an ordinary web download, these programs can use a proprietary, secret Adobe protocol to talk to each other, encrypting the communication and locking out non-Adobe software players and video tools. We imagine that Adobe has no illusions that this will stop copyright infringement -- any more than dozens of other DRM systems have done so -- but the introduction of encryption does give Adobe and its customers a powerful new legal weapon against competitors and ordinary users through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). read more »
U2 Manager Wants ISPs to Filter File Sharers; Threat Level Calls for U2 Filter - Via Threat Level:
U2's longtime manager Paul McGuinness wants ISPs to filter the internet for copyrighted music, disconnect music downloaders and pay the music industry billions of dollars, according to a Financial Times report on a speech he gave at a music conference in France Monday.
"I suggest we shift the focus of moral pressure away from the individual P2P file thief and on to the multibillion dollar industries that benefit from these countless tiny crimes," McGuinness said. "The ISPs [internet service providers] the telcos [telecoms companies], the device-makers." read more »
Privacy Commissioner Criticizes Canadian DMCA - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, has criticized the proposed Canadian DMCA in a public letter to Jim Prentice, the Canadian Minister of Industry. read more »
DRM is Dead; Long Live DRM - Via Threat Level:
Though undoubtedly the headlines proclaiming the death of Digital Rights Management (DRM) were fun to write after the fourth of the big four big music companies announced it would begin selling digital music files without digital locks, DRM is far from dead. read more »
Bits Debate: On the Rights of Readers and Viewers - Via Bits on blogs.nytimes.com:
Is the march of technology taking away rights people used to enjoy, such as the ability to make personal copies of things they buy? Tim Wu, of Columbia Law School, says technology is eroding the value of ownership. Rick Cotton, of NBC Universal, says new copy protection systems will give more options to consumers. The Bits Debate continues.
Copyright Extensions and ISP Filtering: Breaking EU Culture, One Amendment at a Time - Via EFF: Deep Links:
As you may recall, the European Parliament's forthcoming report on the Cultural Industries has become the latest target of lobbying by the recording industry. First, they attempted to insert language that advocated that European ISPs filter and block their own users on the basis of suspected infringement. As we explained to European Members of Parliament, such policies would not only harm the privacy and security of Net users - they would not even work to combat infringement. Like DRM, everyone would lose, including the music industry and artists that IFPI seeks to protect. read more »
Troubling "Digital Theft Prevention" Requirements Remain in Higher Education Bill - Via EFF: Deep Links:
Last November, we reported on H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, which includes misguided anti-piracy requirements for universities. For the most part, the massive, nearly 800-page bill refreshes existing legislation about federal financial aid. But the bill also includes a section with a title that sounds as if it were dreamt up by an entertainment industry lobbyist: "Campus-based Digital Theft Prevention." Specifically, the bill says:
Each eligible institution participating in any program under this title shall to the extent practicable—
[...]
(2) develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.
To those unfamiliar with this particular sort of DC double-speak, "alternatives to illegal downloading" means industry-sanctioned download services; and existing "technology-based deterrents" means network filters and other tools. read more »
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