New Sony DRM: ’something better than free’
p2pnet news view | DRM:-Is Apple’s iTunes the be-all and end-all when it comes to corporate online digital distribution?
The application has captured the minds of the great executive unwashed in a way no other technology has. They believe Apple Rulz. And that must be true because Apple says so.
What to do? What to do?
And then along came John, smooth talking John, in the shape of Mitch Singer, Sony Pictures CTO, with something better than free.
He’s succeeded in persuading Warner Bros Entertainment, Fox Entertainment Group, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Comcast Corp, retailer Best Buy, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Philips, Toshiba and Verisign but not, obviously, Walt Disney, into signing up for his Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE).
He’s told them he can, “actually develop and deliver a product to the consumer that’s better than free,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Like whiter than white? Or wetter than water?
Nope. It’s all about ……..
But hang on a minute.
According to the story, Singer said he’s been developing DECE inside Sony Pictures for the past six years, “constantly changing the formulation to meet the latest technologies”.
“Outreach” to other companies started in 2006. But by then, wasn’t Sony in all kinds of serious (and ongoing) trouble with its rootkit DRM efforts? You know, when it when it planted dangerous-to-computers spyware on music CDs without bothering to tell the people who bought them?
It was. But now, under the principle there’s more than one-way to skin a consumer, it’s decided to organise what he describes as what may be the, “most radical redefinition yet” of Digital Restrictions Management, in corporate parlance, Digital Rights Management.
Had it already been redfined somewhere by someone?
“In its current form, DRM largely confines content to a limited number of devices depending on the source of that content,” explains the story, going on, “For instance, a song purchased on Apple’s iTunes can be accessed on no more than five different computers and can’t be legally played on a portable device beyond the iPod.”
And then along came John, smooth talking John, and, “If DECE takes hold, it would institute several precedent-setting principles,” to wit:
- “Participating devices” and services would be “interoperable regardless of differing brands or corporate provenance” and a TV episode could, for instance, “be just as easily accessed on Microsoft’s Zune as it would a Philips broadband-enabled TV set.”
Wow! What a concept!
- DECE would allow an, “unlimited number of copies of a video to be created or burned onto a disc”.
The mind boggles!
- Consumers, “would even have the option of not storing the copy at all, but rather streaming it from a server-based ‘rights locker’ that can be tapped from any location.
A rights locker? Absolutely amazing!
- DECE would “create open standards whereby any company that chose to create contents or services can do so to available specifications”.
“Available specifications,” eh? Corporate DRM for corporations, in other words. Nice one, Mitch. 
CBS Corp, Amazon, Walmart, AT&T and Verizon haven’t joined up yet —- but that doesn’t mean they’re, “necessarily opposed to DECE, according to Singer,” says the Hollywood report, which has him saying:
“If I had to characterize it, it’s more of a wait-and-see mode than something they don’t want to be involved in.”
Yes.
“DECE represents yet another ambitious attempt by Hollywood to avoid the fate of the music industry, which has largely dropped DRM altogether,” the story says, adding:
“The consortium aims to give digital distribution a shot in the arm. For all the success of iTunes, XBox and Amazon, their collective sales haven’t matched the growth curve experienced by DVD.
“DECE plans to announce a brand name and logo, as well as a more detailed plan, at the upcoming Consumers Electronics Show in January.”
There’s more than one sucker born every minute.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
Hollywood Reporter – Media group to create digital ‘ecosystem’, September 12, 2008
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September 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
What fuckng joke.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
The biggest problem major labels see today as their hold back is Apple and iTunes who won’t let them raise the prices of the goods. The labels think raising the prices is their salvation path. Unfortunately, raising prices isn’t going to net them more money. It will net them less as fewer can afford what is already to highly priced.
Since iTunes seems to be the only thing going right on line, they can’t afford to knock Apple too loudly. Their next scheme is to get other going sales points in competition with Apple. The problem with this is that already the labels are too demanding in what the prices will be. Since the going price is already 99¢, raising it is gonna be a tough sell. The high cost of licensing is already the reason why no other sites are doing well. When poisoned with DRM of any sort, it makes the product not worth the price now asked. Don’t even go to talking about how higher prices would effect sales.
It has been proven time and again, lower prices encourage more spending, not higher prices. Again we see the majors as being their own worse enemy. It will do me good to have a good chuckle when this one falls as flat on it’s face as has the previous attempts to create iTunes competition have done in the past. As long as prices are sky high with DRM laced goods, of poor quality, you can expect the same old same old. The customer doesn’t want it and they can’t sell enough goods to keep the doors open.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
We already have a format that allows all the things he mentions; It’s called “AVI”.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:31 am
didnt they get successfully sued for thre last DRM piece a work.
STUPID is AS STUPID does.
OH and call it a TPM that works …TPM + DRM = DUM
September 14th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Yep. Airtight DRM is physically, mathematically impossible. But the content industry’s lust for *complete control* is so overwhelming they go out begging for people to sell them snake oil. More thoughts here: http://rocknerd.co.uk/2008/09/13/step-right-up/
September 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
If you can see it or hear it you can copy it by one means or another. Period. Full stop. End of story.
Cheers!
September 15th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Have y’all heard the one about the kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar because he has way to many cookies in his hand? Just let go and, POOF! Like magic the hand is no longer stuck. And gee-wiz, you can still get cookies out of the jar if you are just not so damn GREEDY.
Mitch, your Decadently Excessive Cookie Extractor technology will not work. Just let go of some cookies.