Re: [proaudio] A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

[Allan Klinbail <sonofzev@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What follows is a bit of a waffle, but I am airing some concerns I've
had for a few months. While logically this may be viewed as MS shooting
themselves in the foot, while they have market domination, they may as
well be shooting the consumer in the chest.  

This is very scary, it totally contradicts the fair-usage prcinciple.
I've been looking into buying a new TV - for my new dual purpose (MythTV
and guest "live instrument PC" - no room in the mixing room for someone
with a guitar), I've seen and read alot of stuff about HDCP....
Ultimately I'm going with a (non-HD) Sony trinitron crt that I am
picking up for peanuts... not for the price, but because a standard def
DVD still looks better on this TV than the same movie in HD on a TV 10*
the price.. Most people however will trust the marketing more than their
own eyes (i'm not going to get near the aural side of it) 

> The publisher side of the movie industry has promised they will not
> use HDCP till 2013, this is because alot of people have recently
> bought non HDCP compatible but supposedly high-def TV's...and they are
> scared of a consumer backlash. This doesn't mean the issue is going to
> go away ..  

One hope is sony's embracement of linux for the PS3.. and ironically it
seems Microsofts moves may actually encourage sales of the PS3 rather
than thwart them... In the interim (while a fair and non monopolistic
solution) is sought out, it is cheaper to buy a PS3, and load it with
linux for general PC use, but still allow playback of Blu-Ray discs
without the need for Winblows than it is to buy a new PC and install a
Blu Ray player. Sony-Ericsson has voiced that future phones are more
likely to have a linux OS as opposed to Symbian. 
> 
UNfortunately on the copy protection front, Sony is as blinkered as MS.
The case in point being ATRAC support for anything other than
Winblows...
> 
This reminds me of the story of vinyl (records) in Australia, which does
give some hope.... Even though Sony was able to destroy every vinyl
press in Australia, vinyl sales are still strong here... Admittedly it's
expensive and hard to release on vinyl over here, worldwide Sony was not
able to stop it and people are starting to import old vinyl presses into
Australia.. itunes in 2005 generated more income than the entire cd
based american recording industry...
> 
Similarly, I very much doubt MS will be able to stop the production of
film and/or music in currently accepted formats....  I can't see anyone
releasing something on YouTube that is only viewable on HDCP equipment
and/or software. Furthermore, show me a media encryption technology that
hasn't been broken... COnsider also itunes, and now a plethora of other
online music distributors versus the RIAA's tactic of litigation. Itunes
by itself outstrips all litigation proceeds and still is able to
disseminate music.. while litigation only alienates people. In the
historic case of Metallica vs the world, all they did was prevent a
large number of new fans, who traditionally would have had a copied
cassette before they were convinced to buy a cd, vinyl or concert
ticket. 
> 
Unfortunately for us linux users that puts our entertainment prospects
for high def movies in the hands of the pirates or more specifially the
crackers.... We are seeing a similar fear of the production houses as
was viewed in the late 70's with regards to video cassettes. What was
proven as totally unfounded as the new industry known as the video hire
shop increased their profits by amounts that were totally
unpredictable... 
> 
As far as digital music, it could be said much profits have been lost,
but I argue that many have ended up buying music and/or they never would
have even considered as a result of seeing or hearing something
illegally via the internet. So the ultimate result for the media
industry has been an increase in sales... The RIAA has argued otherwise,
in 2005 sales were halved of a few years before (sorry for lack of
detail here) but it was also shown the number of released artists also
halved..(so 0 net gain or loss as a result of pirating). This does seem
tp  contradict my argument of increased profits but not really, as an
increasingly larger amont of money is spent on legitimate legal
downloads so the net gain has increased. 
> 
So, essentially it could still go either way, and what do we do.... Well
we keep on plugging.... none of us are crimiinals for writing, recording
and/or producing music in an  open source environment... if we stick to
our guns, at least some of the hardware producers will see us as a
market. Thanfully the article points out that not being able to write
unified drivers will increase costs dramatically for the hardware
producers.. I have no problem with copy protection.. some of my income
comes from copyrighted music... What I am opposed to is corporations
gaining control of the dissemination of music, movies, or any other kind
of knowledge (this is the crux of the matter).... The right to make a
backup should be enshrined in law... actually this is where online music
distributors are already making a headway... with many distributors
offering  the ability for multiple downloads in case a cd breaks (god
knows how many cd's i've bought twice as I'm crap at keeping things weel
protected). In fact in some ways I agree with some of the principles of
HDCP, but I feel that if I own the hardware to detect a copy then the OS
should have no part involved.
> 
Microsoft is placing a bet that only they will be able to present HD
content.. This is already not correct, HD-DVD and BluRay disc players
are already available, with MS's only input being license on the HD_DVD
format... With this kind of attitude they encourage people to crack the
code, if the industry embraced new technology there are more profits to
be made rather than lost. Furthermore, Apple has shown they have an
understanding (although limited) of this concept. 

So where am I going with this, back to where I started. As a legitimate
community of musicians, producers, dj's and editors we need to keep
pushing ourselves, keep producing and refuse to give in to this
monopolisation of our industry. Our which ultimately was spawned by a
bunch of poor monks, villagers, and a bunch of other people who believed
their song might communicate a message, that might eventually effectuate
something... whether that be a night on the dancefloor or serious
introspection it does not matter... 

We will always find a way to make music, we will always find a way to
get it heard... What we need to do is make sure that no corporation
prevents others from hearing it... 


So , waffled as this may have been, BUT keep writing , keep producing or
keep writing the software to enable that... otherwise we give ourselves
over to the future ascribed by Orwell or Huxley.... 

MS might temporarily find a way to limit our output but ultimately we
have beaten it for 1000's of years and will keep doing so.. 

cheers

(I'll be back to normal software testing when I awake tomorrow) 




  

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> On Mon, 2007-01-15 at 23:02 +0100, Dominique Michel wrote: 
> > When the reality is worst as the fiction:
> > 
> > http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
> > 
> > Venceremos!
> > Dominique