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Posted by Doug Jacobs on 10/10/97 11:59
In alt.games.video.sony-playstation2 Jalecks <jalex@fauxwars.in> wrote:
> You'd better get used to digital rights management technology. Sony's is
> the only game console burdened with it because the PS3 is the only true
> console using next-gen technology.
> I seriously doubt PS3 discs will be unavailable for rental, BTW. DRM is
> all about secure information rental.
The whole disc-locking rumor has already been dispelled by Sony.
Yes, they DO have a patent on such a method. No, they aren't doing
anything of the sort of the PS3.
As for DRM in general, I can understand the companies' needs to protect
their IP and be allowed to make money from it. However, most DRM schemes
that have been introduced to the market have been excessively restrictive,
damaging, and flat out illegal. But my biggest problem with DRM is that
the way the companies are implementing it, they assume EVERYONE is a thief
unless you can prove otherwise.
If you want an example of DRM gone horrible wrong, look up "StarForce".
What's worse is that DRM - which is just a synonym for "copy protection"
or "anti-piracy" - is attempting to solve a social problem with
technology. That's not going to work. History has shown it doesn't
work. Lots of games were copy protected even in the days of the first
home computers. People found ways to bypass them. Writing to "bad"
sectors, password/code-wheel checks, you name it, it's been bypassed. And
in the meantime, the big professional pirates - you know, the ones
creating the discs sold on street corners all over places like China for
US$3-7 each - are completely unaffected. The only ones who suffer are the
legitimate customers.
I don't know of any other industry that can *publically* and *repeatedly*
call its customers thieves, and not be put out of business immediatly.
> > Sony is slitting their own throats.
> This is the future, whether consumers accept it or not. The MPAA and RIAA
> have worked with every major software and electronics manufacturer to
> ensure that the next generation of media will be totally locked down.
> There will be no alternatives. OS X and Vista have low-level DRM layers.
> Even the Open Source community is embracing it with Linux and the GPL
> moving towards DRM support.
The standards may be put in place, but I guarantee you that others will
produce code/products to open things back up.
And in the meantime, the media companies will lose customers left and
right. Maybe some day they'll realize that pissing off their legitimate
customers isn't going to do a thing to stop piracy. If anything, it'll
make piracy more popular.
> If DRM hurts Sony, it wasn't Sony's fault. Try blaming the criminal
> pirates that caused the situation instead. If it weren't for Napster,
> this situation wouldn't exist.
Bullshit. That's pure and simple bullshit.
Sony still has a choice. There have been reports of Sony's media division
asking its electronics division to implement ridiculously restrictive DRM
in their products (eg. a VCR/DVR that won't record certain shows) So far,
the electronics division has fought these requests off. They know that if
they implemented such a thing, people would stop buying Sony products, and
go elsewhere.
As for piracy, explain to me how any form of DRM or copy protection has
EVER stopped the professional pirate community. I'm not talking about Bob
making a copy of a game for his co-worker. I'm talking about the entire
fricking *INDUSTRY* that exists for the sole purpose of producing copies of
anything you can imagine. And they're getting more and more sophisticated
as technology marches forward. Used to be you could only get fuzzy VCDs of
a movie shot from a handicam in a crowded theater. Now, with pre-screen
versions being released on DVD or in some other digital format, it's
possible to get a DVD quality copy of a movie WEEKS before it hits theaters.
Software is even easier since the "gold" version is transmitted to the
production facilities. How hard do you think it'd be for someone on the
inside to grab a copy of that? The so called '0-day Warez' pirate groups
have been doing this for almost 2 decades - and no form of copy protection or
DRM has slowed them down.
In the meantime, the legitimate consumer is being saddled with more and
more ridiculous restrictions.
* Friend's daughter bought a game, only to find out it wouldn't work in
their computer because it only had a CD ROM drive.
* StarForce protected titles not only install spyware, is very hard to
remove, but will physically damage your CD/DVD burner!
* Sony's RootKit debacle.
* CDs that are unreadable in CD-Rom drives (and in some cases, will CRASH
your computer!)
* The stupid company responsible for the above method tried to sue the 15
year old who discovered you could eliminate their DRM simply by using a
marker (or holding down the command key when you stick the CD into your
Mac.)
This is the future of media? How many ridiculous hoops do you think
people are going to be willing to jump through - all to prove they AREN'T
THIEVES - before they just give up altogether.
Finally, as for Napster, there have been several studies done that
strongly indicate that not only didn't music purchases decrease, they
INCREASED. Dramatically.
This would indicate that people would sample music via Napster, then go
out and BUY IT. Imagine that - BUYING music!
Oddly, when Napster was shut down, music purchases DROPPED to about where
they were before Napster showed up.
Of course, the music companies point to this drop as evidence that piracy
is hurting the industry, and fail to explain (or just ignore) the
increases from the previous years. They also fail to take into account
the general state of the economy, in which consumer spending was down
across the board. Nope, it's them evil evil pirates!
And Napster was hardly anything new. Usenet, FTP, BBSs, and department
file servers are just a few examples of how people were distributing
copies of material before Napster was even an idea in someone's head.
DRM is just copy protection for the 21st century, and as such, is a
technology doomed to fail.
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