Bear Flag Republic Radio WeblogLiving out here on the left coast |
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Cringely on Identity Theft [Slashdot]
comments < 11:44:41 AM 
>Microsoft aims to control all digital media. The company appears to be making Windows Media deals everywhere, perhaps like it did with Internet Explorer. And while parts of the deals seem positive - such as opening up the Windows Media formats to a standards body and saying that details will be licensed at a reasonable price, one key component is being held in reserve: digital rights management or DRM. DRM lets content providers control how their music or video will be used by the consumer. Buried in this article is acknowledgment of the issue, with the quote "There is concern among media companies that a single market dominant DRM technology could ultimately determine how consumers view or listen to media in the future." Under DRM, the content provider can prevent you from copying the product for personal use, prevent you from playing it on a computer and can extend restrictions in to future digital broadcasts. There, the broadcaster or content provider will be able to prohibit you from making a tape copy of the program, even for viewing at a later time. The real reason the FCC has been pushing so hard for HDTV is because of digital broadcasting and digital rights management. Consumers have not been demanding HDTV. But once signals are entirely in the digital domain - and no analog audio or video signal is accessible to you, then nothing can be copied. This will occur when the encrypted digital transmission is received by your tuner and remain in digital form all the way to the video display or the speaker. And while the media format may be available to all for to use, Microsoft will control the DRM component, giving it monopoly power over restricted media such as music, movies and television broadcasts. Microsoft's Windows Media push is about carving out a monopoly in DRM, and little else. [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology] comments < 11:44:11 AM
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