YeshuaAgapao.com Blog

It appears that Microsoft has pulled the ability for the end user to back-up their DRM usage rights data with Windows Media Player 11. They put in an ‘on-line’ restoration system that works only some of the time to compensate, and generally tells those who lose their data and can’t work the online restoration that they are ’shit out of luck’. I don’t rip CDs with Windows Media player, so I don’t have to worry it about it planting DRM into the audio files. I use open source CDEX to rip CDs, which happily makes unprotected MP3s (anything you have a codec for). I will not use Windows Media Center Edition (or Vista Home Premium or Ultimate) to record TV shows. I don’t think I ever had a microsft-DRM-ed file on my hard drive ever.

****************************************

I like this — “Luckily, if you ignored the law, you can enjoy Zune to the fullest.”. Microsoft is looking to exploit both the law abiding by ripping them off with incompatible DRM versions, and the law breakers by competing with the generic players in the MeritLine.com category above. At least you know the MS is looking for the most profit, on both sides of the law, regardless of whether the law is good or bad for the consumer (the Anti-DRM cracking part of the DMCA is bad). None of the MeritLine devices has a screen though. They have to be hooked up to a TV or monitor.

****************************************

Bad news, it looks like Zune will practice ‘viral DRM’ - all 3 days / 3 plays (whichever is hit first), even on unprotected content. The ‘viral DRM’ kicks in if you do a player to player transfer of content. It doesn’t seem to actually DRM the file itself, so the scope of the DRM is limited to the wi-fi transmission recipient’s player only. So the user could maybe bypass it by copying out the file and then copying it back in? This is probably lawsuit paranoia with a nice exploit of a loophole in the creative commons license, and still fits the profit motive pattern.

****************************************

This proprietary DRM is STUPID. I bet the RIAA loves Apple for setting a pioneer’s exmple of their proprietary ways. Standardized DRM would at least prevent this (and why the RIAA doesn’t want it probably in agreement with Apple) - Microsoft will bear the consumer’s burden of re-purchasing songs to convert a customer from IPod to Zune (or at least make the customer use both devices concurrently)!!! I bet Apple will do their best to fight Microsoft’s scanning of Itunes. The RIAA tough, will lavishly accept Microsofts re-purchase payments though, so at least this may create a further rift between Apple and the RIAA on top of the pricing disputes (The RIAA wants to charge more for popular tracks and leave the less popular rather than charge less for unpopular tracks and leave the popular ones), but probably not. Then again, most customers rip CDs or download from P2P like Emule. So far it looks like I don’t want a Zune, either, especially if the price markup is going to be higher than even Ipod.

****************************************

People HATE DRM. DRM-free download sites will flourish when the unprotected, rippable CD becomes obsolete, if the RIAA can ever manage that. THe RIAA Pulling non_DRM CDs right now is an immediate death sentence for the recording industry and they know it. The extinction of the unprotected CD would multiply piracy rates by 10 with the remainder going to the independant indie lables, with only the stupidist or the most subjugatable buying the DRM. The MPAA was saved only by De-CSS.

****************************************

The MPAA is training and recruiting ‘pirate DVD’ dogs? I wonder how they differentiate legit-stamp, pirate-stamp, DVDs with XVIDs, burnt DVD-video, and DVDs with misc data? Maybe they are targeting the scent of certain types of pirate pressing equipment? Most counterfeiting is going to the burners these days, so the dogs are obsolete already if specific pressing equipment scents are being targeted. If people who don’t want to pay for shit (or can’t due to legal / trade restrictions) would just download their movies for free from Emule, then the counterfeiters would be all out of business anyway.

****************************************

“The reason it’s bad for content providers is because typically a DRM ties a user to one hardware platform, so if I buy my all my music on iTunes, I can’t take that content to another hardware environment or another operating platform”. They’ll eventually standardize DRM accross multiple OS’s and hardware platforms. I’m surprised they havn’t already. Then again, with apple being first-in, and apple always having been highly proprietary, everybody stupidly follows apple’s example. It is obvious that BitTorrent is mostly loyal to the MPAA now, mostly out of fear I presume. At least BitTorrent itself remains open source. Maybe, like Guba.com, BitTorrent could get away with running a PirateBay like index with minimal filtering, maybe also scraping usenet and also several torrent sites rather than its current moderated submission only search engine?

****************************************

Well I ain’t ever going to subscribe to HDNet. Mark Cuban showed himself as a DRM lover who wants to be on the throne. I do agree that most viral marketing isn’t going to spread. If the commercial sucks, and most do, it ain’t going to spread. The ‘Go Daddy Girl’ spread really well. Many Adidas and Nike (especially the Joga ones) soccer commercials do really well. I have hoarded about 2-3 GB of commercials off of Emule.

****************************************

It appears that FairUse4WM will coincidentially crack Zune DRM because Zune will use Windows Media 10/11 DRM. DRM is pointless. Anti-DRM sentiment is greatly supress by the abundance of unprotected audio CDs. Things will only get worse, going by that fact the microsoft is already switching to an outside warfare domain - civil courts. Eventually it will be cops, jail, and guns, because nobody can beat the hackers.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Government / Corporate Paranoia, Computers / Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.