The subject of “content protection” continues to be a complicated issue. While some firmly think that one should be able to legally make a copy of lawfully acquired content, if such content is protected to avoid exactly that and the protection is circumvented to perform such copy, how can that action be right when it is actually violating the right of the content creator?
The content production industry needs...
[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2009/11/who_needs_content_protection.php]Read Article[/url]
Who Needs Content Protection?
-
Rodolfo
- Author
- Posts: 755
- Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 8:46 pm
- Location: Lansdowne VA
-
Roger Halstead
- Major Contributor

- Posts: 210
- Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 4:13 pm
Who needs DRM?
Having been a programmer and even having some articles published in magazines I can identify with the need for the adherence to to the copyright rules, BUT the route the Movie and Music industries have take which takes away my lawful right to fair use (back ups) and underhanded tactics such as Sony's root kit I have lost all respect for those industries and have not purchased either movies or music in several years. No, I don't download it either. Their ruthless approach to the problem has left me not caring whether someone circumvents their DRM or not. Of course my approach has left me listening to the same music collection for years and only seeing a movie when it turns up on television.
The author did a good job on the topic, but should have included a large portion of the public losing respect for those companies due to their tactics (the same as used by organized crime in some instances) and that spreads to all forms of media. "Possibly" the price of what they are selling is too high for the true value of the product particularly when the industry makes much more than most performers.
As the situation stands the consumer and seller are becoming more polarized rather than moving toward a common and reasonable ground. This leaves the two industries spending ever increasing sums which are already huge, to prevent copying, while the hacker(s) only have to invest time and a little hardware to get around the new DRM. OTOH how can these industries expect the legitimate consumer to even care if some one is copying the material they sell if they are considered guilty until proven innocent. Rephrased: If the two industries see the legitimate consumer in the same light as the pirate how can they expect the consumer to care.
IF the two industries were not spending many millions of dollars on DRM would they be able to sell products at a reasonable price that would deter pirating?
Like the author I have no idea as to how this can be settled. OTOH I do know because of the root kit and the stated company attitude, I will not knowingly purchase any Sony products and that includes Bluray regardless of who is producing the hardware or media.
The author did a good job on the topic, but should have included a large portion of the public losing respect for those companies due to their tactics (the same as used by organized crime in some instances) and that spreads to all forms of media. "Possibly" the price of what they are selling is too high for the true value of the product particularly when the industry makes much more than most performers.
As the situation stands the consumer and seller are becoming more polarized rather than moving toward a common and reasonable ground. This leaves the two industries spending ever increasing sums which are already huge, to prevent copying, while the hacker(s) only have to invest time and a little hardware to get around the new DRM. OTOH how can these industries expect the legitimate consumer to even care if some one is copying the material they sell if they are considered guilty until proven innocent. Rephrased: If the two industries see the legitimate consumer in the same light as the pirate how can they expect the consumer to care.
IF the two industries were not spending many millions of dollars on DRM would they be able to sell products at a reasonable price that would deter pirating?
Like the author I have no idea as to how this can be settled. OTOH I do know because of the root kit and the stated company attitude, I will not knowingly purchase any Sony products and that includes Bluray regardless of who is producing the hardware or media.
-
hharris4earthlink
- Major Contributor

- Posts: 171
- Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:08 pm
- Location: Pasadena, California
A Suggested Solution
I think we can agree that what we need is a solution that protects creators of content who need to be encouraged to produce their intellectual property while giving buyers limited rights to copy material for their own use. Logically this would imply that we need technology that can produce perfect copies n times, but no more than n. This implies that the recording medium itself must degrade in the copying process, but must guarantee published quality n times but no more than n. This would seem to be impossible with analog or digital recording, but it's not necessarily true for a holographic recording in which the process of copying produces sequential degradation that may have the effect of switching off the image after n copies are made. This effect can occur with the degradation of the Bragg selectivity which affects the bit error rate. Someone who is an expert in this field could address the feasibility of this idea.