Archive for: drm
Oh thank everything holy (or non-holy if that’s your cup of tea)! Game publisher Ubisoft has announced that they have “listend to customer feedback” regarding the “always-on” internet connection requirement for their new “Driver” game and decided to do away with it. While you’ll still need to have an internet connection to “log in” — to what? — at the game’s launch, it’s far less annoying and intrusive than the former option. Maybe some day Ubisoft will learn that DRM is useless at actually stopping any form of piracy and only annoys their loyal customers.
Digital cancer (read: DRM) and the overall backwards stance movie studios and music publishers take towards end user copying of CDs/DVDs gets another victory — For us! — today. The UK government is this close to enacting a new law that will officially make it 100% legal to copy CDs and DVDs to computers and other mobile devices for “personal/home” use. Public (read: file sharing of any time) sharing without the copyright owners permission is still off limits.
In other news: the UK is joining 95% of Europe, the U.S and Canada with laws that officially legitimize acts consumers have been doing for years. Major labels and other similar organization won’t likely be too happy people can now legally copy their purchased content, thereby breaking down their ancient business model based off of 300-year old copyright laws. To that we say good riddance. And oh yea…Fuck them.
In many respects, consumers’ fight against one of the most flawed areas of modern technology — DRM — has been “won”. Fewer companies are relying on this digital cancer to push sales and are instead turning to offering truly unique and intriguing products and business models. Unfortunately, Motorola appears to be backpedalling with their recent purchase of DRM company SunUp.
Motorola and SunUp claim that in order to continue offering advanced video (and music) streaming as well as future technology, DRM will be needed to keep rights holders happy. While DRM has proven to be completely ineffective time and time…and time again, we keep seeing these tech companies fail at grasping basic logic and/or fully understanding the market they cater to. With that said, expect Motorola’s new DRM technologies to be cracked within 1-2 months of release — just like every other piece of DRM known to mankind.
-1 Motorola.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is one of the most hyped up tablets of 2011 due in part to the brand new QNX operating system. But that and all the power in the world can’t save it from the worst crutch — DRM. RIM has employed 7Digital as the PlayBook’s sole online music store. Mind you, 7Digital is chock full of DRM-laden music limited to a certain number (5) of devices with further restrictions such as the inability to use said “purchased” content as ringtones and/or notification alerts. Adding insult to injury, you are only allowed to download your “purchased” content a set number of times and 7 Digital can even change the terms of the contract (and further limit the number devices/downloads you can make use of) as they see fit.
With two of the market leaders — Amazon and Apple — already years ahead of RIM when it comes to catalog size as well as pro-consumer policies in regards to music content, it’s highly disappointing to see RIM start the PlayBook off on such a bad footing out of the gate and not make use of their competitors previous follies. Hopefully RIM can work their magic and re-write the offending licenses and deals neutering their PlayBook music store or flat out find a new partner to deliver the goods. As it stands now, 7Digital is a shackle to an otherwise seemingly great tablet.
- November 13, 2010 2:50 pm
While other platforms have started to dip their feet into the mobile Netflix sphere, Android in particular has been left out. We knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Netflix trickled down, though we weren’t sure exactly how it was going to go with all the different hardware devices on the market. The reason this matters is because Netflix relies on some pretty hefty DRM *puke* to keep the major content owners happy. And it is that same DRM (unsurprisingly) that is ruining Netflix for Android…
Each and every day, it literally pains me to read headline after headline of some new boneheaded politician or government body who makes a law based solely on the persuasion of company lobbyists. We all know what I’m talking about — companies who “donate” money to politicians so they’ll push for laws that favor monopolistic ways for the company on top and just fuck over customers overall. But there is hope!
The Library of Congress announced today a change to the DMCA’s god awful anti-circumvention clause. Specifically, verbiage pertaining to the act of hacking/jailbreaking/rooting your handset for the purpose of installing “legally obtained” software is permitted. Score +10 for consumers!
Though don’t get too excited just yet. While the law specifically states end users more or less have final say what they do with their phones, it does not say manufacturers can’t try to stop consumers — as Apple has time and time again…and failed repeatedly. Furthermore, the DMCA still prohibits “tools” (read: software in this case) that aid in DMCA-type circumventions from being discussed or publicly shared for others to download. Stupid — yes. So technically, it’s legal to jailbreak our phones, but obtaining the software and retweeting the hell out of new updates about Dev-Team products is not. Fluster cluck it is.
Still, it’s a huge win for consumers who have in recent years, seen plenty of their rights trampled on by the almighty corporate dollar. Baby steps folks, baby steps.
At first, the title “100% legal to circumnavigate DRM for legal purposes” may seem a bit cryptic. As we’ve seen countless times throughout various governments, “legal uses” is a highly ambiguous and misleading term. But in the case of Brazil and their digital rights laws, it’s a far prettier picture as far as consumer protections are concerned.
Here in the United States, it’s technically illegal to circumnavigate DRM (the digital cancer that pollutes more and more of our digital goods each and every day). Usually, consumers will witness the utter useless of this “technology” when copying a DVD or CD of theirs to their computer or digital device. But, the simple act of doing so technically makes them a criminal — a provision in the law that big media giants just love. Sadly, big media runs this country, not the citizens.
But Brazil is at a shining beacon of light, showing that not every government has bent over for the media industry, and actually stood their ground for consumers’ rights. Under Brazilian law, it is completely legal to break through DRM so long as you aren’t doing so to upload to file sharing sites, pirate, etc., etc. But the best part about Brazil’s digital media laws is this: Any copyright holder who laces their content with DRM and goes against current federal laws for consumers’ rights and “fair use/fair dealings” actually faces a fine for hindering consumers’ rights! +1 Brazel!
§1º. The same sanction applies, without prejudice to other sanctions set forth by law, to whom, through whatever means:
a) hinders or prevents the uses allowed by arts. 46, 47 and 48 of this Act [which addresses limitations to copyright including fair dealing]; or
b) hinders or prevents the free use of works, broadcast transmissions and phonograms which have fallen into the public domain.
How’s Brazil this time of year…anyone feel like a permanent vacation?
Those concerned with “fair use”, the rules of engagement revolving around DRM, and countless other pro-consumer copyright issues need to stay the hell away from Canada. The person to thank — canadian federal Industry Minister Tony Clement. It is under his command that Canada is trying to push ahead with a grossly biased and one-sided anti-piracy bill.
The most disturbing of all the stipulations included focuses on DRM, specifically, removing or going around DRM. WIth the new additions to Canada’s Copyright Act, anyone — even that 11-year old kid copying his dads CD to put on his iPod — will be considered breaking the law and fined $5,000. Conversely, actual fines for people found uploading and downloading copyrighted materials will go down. How do they figure that…?
So true…so very true. Larger than life version right inside…
