Today must be DRM day - here's the RIAA, convinced that we'd love DRM, if only we would give it a chance:

Not so fast, said Hughes, who predicted that DRM would reemerge in a big way. "I think there is going to be a shift," he told the audience. "I think there will be a movement towards subscription services and they will eventually mean the return of DRM."

Hughes also said that DRM must change so that the public sees it less as a sort of policeman that locks music a way. He would prefer a mode where consumers don't notice DRM at all. "People just want music when they want it," he said. "It's about access. If they get that then they don't care about DRM."

Yeah, there's a pleasant theory. Sadly, the whole PlaysForSure fiasco drills a rather huge whole in that sorry excuse for thinking. The public doesn't care about DRM - but they do care about having stuff they bought stop working.

The MPAA is even dumber:

Fritz Attaway, executive vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said: "We need DRM to show our customers the limits of the license they have entered into with us."

Translation: "You're not customers, you're dirty rotten thieves"

Technorati Tags: stupidity, copyright

And Microsoft may be developing a deep case of the stupids as well. Here's what it looks like they might allow NBC to get from the Zune store:

The second story is about NBC shows coming to the Microsoft Zune media player, but with one feature NBC wanted added to the device: the copyright cop. If you buy a NBC show and transfer it to your Zune, a small application will check your Zune for "pirated" shows and movies that weren't purchased from the Zune store, and delete them. It's rumored that this is why the NBC/Apple partnership ended at the iTMS and they removed shows -- because Apple refused to build in this kind of capability.

Yeah, that sure makes me want to run out and buy a Zune. I've ripped DVD's to my hard drive for the sole purpose of watching a movie while traveling (carrying the DVD and case is too much of a pain). In the (incredibly small) brain of Jeff Zucker, that's an action that gives him permission to erase the "offending" content after I get something from the Zune store. Umm, thanks, but no thanks.

In that NY Times story, MS states explicitly that they won't do that:

We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC.

That sounds good, but recall: this is the outfit that just told you to take a hike with "PlaysForSure". They shouldn't be surprised that out confidence level in them is low....

Technorati Tags: stupidity, tv

Microsoft tries to explain why the customers screwed by the pending shutdown of PlaysForSure shouldn't be blamed on them:

"Had we had the ability to deliver DRM-free tracks at the time, we absolutely would have done that," Bennett said. "We talked to the labels at the time about that. As a company, we have continued to push for this. Zune has a subset in their catalogue of DRM-free Mp3s. Now, the industry is making progress. The labels are understanding the down side of DRM when its used the way they wanted to use it, they end up punishing the users who bought music legally more than those who want to circumvent the system."

Umm, right. Poor little Microsoft, unable to take a stand against the record labels. Right. Wal-Mart can push down CD prices, but MS can just sit there and take it. I'd mention something that Bennett doesn't seem to have, but this is a family friendly site....

Technorati Tags: stupidity, music, RIAA

Joe Wilcox explains in depth why DRM sucks: Microsoft switched from PlaysForSure (ironic name now, eh?) to whatever scheme the Zune uses - and after August of this year, you're pretty much screwed (yes, you can downgrade your music by burning a CD - but that's stupid). Here's MS' explanation:

"If you intend to transfer a previously downloaded song to a new computer (or an existing computer with a new operating system, such as an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista) within the maximum allowed limit of 5 computers, please do so before August 31, 2008. You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."

Given the replacement rate on home PCs, that's a pretty lame policy. MS has the muscle to stand up to the RIAA, but I guess they don't have the courage. Much, much easier to just screw their customers...

Technorati Tags: music, stupidity

Engadget reports that Sony seems to have (finally) learned from their mistakes:

Sony BMG boss, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, was just quoted in an interview saying that Sony BMG is "working on an online music subscription service." The service would cost between €6 to €8 per month (about $9 to $12) when launching later in the year and provide full access to its entire music catalog. He goes on to say that customers could own "some songs" even after the subscription was canceled. Interesting on it's own, right? Now the kicker: it will work "for all digital players, including Apple's iPod." That means DRM-free unless Apple agrees to license its FairPlay DRM... which it won't.

You have to meet the customer where he is, not where you think he ought to be. Sony spent years doing the latter.

Technorati Tags: PR, music

Technically, it's illegal to rip a DVD, even if you own it yourself. Which is just stupid, because it's not as if tools like Handbrake promote piracy. I figured I'd take a look at Handbrake, since I've got a long flight in front of me this Friday, and carrying a bunch of DVDs in their packaging doesn't sound like a lot of fun (especially given paranoid security types). So, I tried ripping one of my DVDs, to see how practical an idea it would be.

Well. Ripping one 90 minute movie took almost 2 hours. As a background task before a long flight, that's not too bad. As a "piracy tool", it's absurd. I mean, seriously - the professional pirates have hardware that automates the entire process and does it fast. People like me? We just want to watch a movie we already own without having to carry the fragile disc in our travel bag.

And by the way, here's a nice little video explaining some of the knobs and dials on Handbrake.

I guess stupidity is contagious - how else to explain the fact that Adobe is adding DRM to Flash, and that it will probably lock out non-Adobe players? From the EFF:

Now Adobe, which controls Flash and Flash Video, is trying to change that with the introduction of DRM restrictions in version 9 of its Flash Player and version 3 of its Flash Media Server software. Instead of an ordinary web download, these programs can use a proprietary, secret Adobe protocol to talk to each other, encrypting the communication and locking out non-Adobe software players and video tools. We imagine that Adobe has no illusions that this will stop copyright infringement -- any more than dozens of other DRM systems have done so -- but the introduction of encryption does give Adobe and its customers a powerful new legal weapon against competitors and ordinary users through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

This approach has worked so well for the RIAA - I can understand why Adobe wants to jump on the "shrink my business and piss off our customers" bandwagon....

Technorati Tags: stupidity, adobe, flash

It looks like the individual music labels are smarter than the collective: while the RIAA continues to pound the lectern with its shoe, Sony-BMG became the last of the major labels to deal with reality and drop DRM. Via BusinessWeek:

In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.

I wonder how many heads are exploding over at RIAA central?

Technorati Tags: music, riaa