MS, Macrovision, sign DRM pact
p2pnet.net News:-Macrovision and Microsoft have teamed up to try to restrict video content.
They’ve signed an ‘interoperability agreement’ under which they’ll provide support between Windows Media DRM and Macrovision’s copy management application.
What it boils down to is: an on-demand movie with Macrovision DRM will still carry Macrovision ‘protection’ – even if it’s transferred to a PC with Microsoft software.
“The agreement allows entertainment content owners to benefit from greater distribution flexibility while maintaining rights protection on PCs, digital video recorders and portable media devices,” says Macrovision.
“For the entertainment industry to deliver premium on-demand entertainment in the home, rights must be protected to prevent revenue loss. With about 10 million digital video recorders expected to ship in 2005, a surge in demand for PCs running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 and broad consumer adoption and use of digital media technologies, Microsoft and Macrovision are working to provide a flexible rights solution that allows the entertainment industry to take full advantage of new usage models for today’s digital home.”
Translated, that means, "We’ve come up with more stuff to make sure ‘consumers’ can’t consume anything we don’t own, or have a piece of".
However, if something can seen or heard it can also copied by one means or another, regardless of what it’s already on, or moves to.
Under the deal, Microsoft’s Windows Media DRM technologies will ‘recognize’ Macrovision signals, “enabling temporary storage (time shifting) on digital devices of Macrovision-protected content received via analog interfaces,” says the company.
Good luck.
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See:-
provide support – Macrovision Signs Interoperability Agreement with Microsoft for Entertainment Content Protection, Macrovision, February 3, 2005
February 3rd, 2005 at 9:03 pm
What? Macrovision has the rights to the “broadcast flag” crap?
These guys just seem to live off of government mandated copy protection.
No other companies seem to get such a luxury of being fed purely by silly laws that mandate Macrovision in every consumer device and now the broadcast flag?
February 3rd, 2005 at 10:35 pm
âenabling temporary storage (time shifting) on digital devices of Macrovision-protected content received via analog interfaces,â
and what if i want to time shift beyond the arbitrary time they consider to be “TEMPORARY”
BULLSHIT! Your media center pc is already denounced for supporting hbo’s crap.. and now you pull this. You are guaranteeing either the failure of your product, or the cracking of your drm. Either way you can keep your product.. and i will keep my money.
February 3rd, 2005 at 11:56 pm
My big concern at this point is not all the big media crap that is and will be infected with more and more DRM virus, that process looks to be the industry’s inevitable decent into it’s own “content protected” government blessed consumer hell. What I’m worried about is them cramming hardware down our throats that will not play back “unprotected” content.
February 4th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
I have a Linux media Centre, and it is great. I can make backup copies of movies I buy among other things. I also can watch just about any kind of video format. The only thing my Media Centre doesn’t do that Microsoft’s media Centre does is use my computer to decide what I can or cannot watch. I don’t have to worry about copy protection, region codes and other such nonsense. I buy the movie and use it the way I want.
When the day comes that the U.S. government does force hardware manufacturers who sell products in the U.S. to use DRM is the day I have some of my foreign friends who live in free countries send me non DRM stuff. I don’t care if the government considers it illegal, becaus I don’t and most consumers don’t.