Showing posts with label fairplay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fairplay. Show all posts

13 February 2008

Embarrassed by DRM

Here's a telling comment:

The point behind all this is, of course, to conceal the very existence of DRM from the user – Microsoft is so keen on this that it won't use the term itself at all. The vast majority of iTunes users have no idea their content is being "protected" through Apple's FairPlay DRM, and while a vocal minority seem to be driving the music world away from DRM'd music, it's hard to imagine Hollywood (or Bollywood) being so keen on sharing their labours.

Ergo, we need to shout about the presence of DRM from the rooftops: the more people know about it, the more they will dislike it, as Microsoft well understands....

02 October 2006

Oh, the Irony

DVD Jon is one of free software's folk heroes, famous for reverse-engineering the control software used by DVDs, to allow GNU/Linux systems to play DVDs people had bought (a rather reasonable desire, one would have thought). Now he's doing something similar that is so clever it's painful:

DRM-buster DVD Jon has a new target in his sights, and it’s a big piece of fruit. He has reverse-engineered Apple’s Fairplay and is starting to license it to companies who want their media to play on Apple’s devices. Instead of breaking the DRM (something he’s already done), Jon has replicated it, and wants to license the technology to companies that want their content (music, movies, whatever) to play on Apple devices.

So what will Apple do? Sue him for helping to increase their sales? It's true that the music industry does precisely this when it goes after P2P systems, but Apple's more savvy, right? Right???