Hollywood To Waste $30 Million Believing It Can Build Better Copy Protection
from the good-luck-with-that dept
For years, Hollywood folks have claimed that the tech industry is working against them, building all of these new technologies like music players, digital video recorders and file sharing networks that they believe are designed to destroy their business. What they’ve failed to realize is that these aren’t attempts to destroy Hollywood at all, but to rejuvenate it by making it easier for people to consume content in the way that they most enjoy. It’s why almost every entertainment technology invention has ended up helping, not hurting, the industry — even as the industry tried to stop each and every one (examples: player pianos, radio and the VCR). However, since the entertainment folks swear that techies are working against them, they’ve decided to take the tech into their own hands. The six leading Hollywood studios are setting up “MovieLabs” a research consortium designed to create all this anti-copying technology that all of us techies have been hiding from the entertainment industry all this time. Apparently, our devious plan to not tell the industry how to stop copying will be foiled now! Not that they’re going to figure this out for quite some time, but the simple fact is that some amount of copying is going to happen no matter what. Technology can not, and will not, stop it. Any attempt to do so is a waste of money (in this case, $30 million for the first two years). The industry would be much better off taking that $30 million and spending it on creative new ways to embrace what people are doing with their content. Of course, for the movie industry, $30 million is a tiny fraction of a bad movie — so they’ll just let it go to waste on this new project and not think too much about it.
Comments on “Hollywood To Waste $30 Million Believing It Can Build Better Copy Protection”
Region Coding #2
FTA: “Ways to link senders and receivers of movies transmitted over the Internet to geographic and political territories, to monitor the distribution of movies and prevent the violation of license agreements.”
Translation: “Delay or prevent Europeans from watching American programs”. We’re still waiting to see the final season of Angel on network TV over here.
Re: Region Coding #2
Wait until all over-the-air broadcasting has gone digital. Damn little will be free. You’ll pay for your advertisement breaks and like it. Now shut-up, sit-down and consume our rubbish when, where, and how /we/ like it. And oh yes, give us your money.
December next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast. I doubt it will survive a second hundred years, killed by greed.
Maybe Hollywood ...
Maybe Hollywood is using copy protection as a twisted PR platform too?
They just don't get it
Despite the ability to over ride current copy protection schemes and the ability to download music, movies and tv shows via various file sharing systems, the media companies continue to make money. The fact is that the majority of consumers continue to buy cds and dvds, continue to see movies in movie theatres and continue to rent dvds and video games (some even rent movies through their cable provider).
hmm??
don’t they realize that if they try to find a way to stop someone… something, that it will only be a week before others figure a way around it?
No Subject Given
How would this be a bad thing?
Nobody forces you to consume TV programs, radio broadcasts, or any other traditional media out there.
There is enough technology floating around that people will get fed up with the prices, ads, and lack of quality and turn towards podcasts, fan-made movies (special effects are getting better all the time), and music from bands that don’t have record company contracts.
Then there’s always going to see a plays and operas, visiting a museum or even picking up a good book.
The airwaves are techincally a public resource, but until the public gets off their lazy butts and demands Congress and the FCC regulate it as such instead of turning it into one giant
pay-per-view tollbooth for the broadcast spectrum then you will continue to pay and pay for mediocre quality programming jam-packed with ads.
I can't wait . . .
for the first release of the newest copy protection.
Wanna take bets how long before it’s busted?
Copy Restriction
At least the title doesn’t refer to the euphemistic “Digital Rights Management.” But let’s be honest, it’s not “copy protection,” it’s “copy restriction.”
Re: Copy Restriction
I agree with you Gary. The techies? who will be working for Holloywood to build that dream abracadabra software have a very weak vision, Let’s see what they come up with.
Obvious flaw.
Example 1: Person buys song, person plays song.
Person hooks perfect digital audio ouput to the input of a audio recording program, rips everything and .mp3’s it.
Hmm.
Example 2: Person uses a program similar to fraps to create a 1:1 fullscreen copy of a film, at perfect quality with perfect sound.
Hmm.
Owned?