Tom Loosemore wrote:
Peter Bazelgette (ex-boss of Endymol) came out against DRM in a speech
to the Convergence Think Tank last week - he wants to allow and
encourages peopel to share TV, but be able to track who watches things
so revenue can be shared appropriately blah blah
I heard Ashley Highfield say the same thing in an interview on BBC
backstage blog a back in the autumn.
I'm unconvinced because I don't believe it is possible without DRM.
DRM stands for Digital [Rights|Restrictions] Management. To most of us
that means that we can't copy the content as much as we want and share
it. It is the marketed with innocuous terms such as "Copy Protection" or
"Piracy Protection".
This is a misrepresentation of what Digital [Rights|Restrictions]
Managements actually is.
It is also, to some extent, a misrepresentation of the problems some
people have with Digital [Rights|Restrictions] Managements.
The issue people have with Digital [Rights|Restrictions] Managements is
not that they necessarily really want to share TV with other people
(note that they *may*, but they are probably already doing so in that
case) .
The issue people have with Digital [Rights|Restrictions] Managements is
that:
1) it means they must give power over their computer to an outside
force, whose reliability and motives are uncertain
2) it forces them to use proprietary software on their computer
Now before someone says, "Tim, you have misinterpreted what this guy has
said", which may be true, I would like you to consider exactly how
exactly one can track who watches what.
I know very little about media formats, but i know a few things. Media
formats contain data, not executable code. There are good reasons for
this and designers try to keep executable code and media data as far a
way as possible.
Media players don't all have a function which sends a unique ID to server.
the problems surrounding this idea that it would be great for people to
share TV so long as we can see, who watches it where and when and how, I
suspect is likely to cause Phorm-scale outrage or worse when it emerges
it will use DRM.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. As I say, I know very little
about media formats and only claim to have a common sense understanding
of DRM and surrounding issues.
Tim
--
www.tdobson.net
----
If each of us have one object, and we exchange them, then each of us
still has one object.
If each of us have one idea, and we exchange them, then each of us now
has two ideas. - George Bernard Shaw
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