DRM reaches turning point

Posted by patrick on January 10, 2007 at 5:43 pm · Under DRM

The past Christmas buying season saw flat panel television post large volumes. Each of the sales people I spoke with on the floor of the chain retailers reported people buying “as big as they can” and 1080 versions. This is in spite of the fact that no 1080 sources are being delivered or planned by any networks. Other than adding another grand for the competing Hi Definition disc players, people were buying 1080 because they understand that more is better, and that things will keep right on changing.

So the marketplace has reached a landmark- the introduction of DRM enabled devices selling to non technical mass audiences.

What they might not know about their new toys is that that quality image is dependent on their use of the HDMI connectors. HDMI is part of the DRM efforts promoted over five years ago by MPAA and other interests that successfully sold the concept that theft can be made impossible. The Consumer Electronics industry embraced this in spite of the fact that it shifted the cost and complexity for less capable appliances to them, and thus you, the buyers. The reasons they did so are articulated very nicely by Bob Cringely, best known for his Triumph of the Nerds television show, among other histories of Silicon Valley in this essay.

Cringely also predicts that DRM will fail. The main reason he cites is that it is a complicated job and Microsoft hasn’t shown itself able to outwit or outflank the hacker community yet.

Other sources are just as pessimistic. For a variety of other reasons too. Interoperability between the various silos ( Apple trying to herd everyone to Apple formats), and complexity of set up and use ( this is the population that didn’t set the clock on their VCRs) are big hurdles.

No one seems to have bothered to think yet about what happens when an entire industry doesn’t trust their customers. And says so to their faces in the form of intentional technical complexity and signal degradation, to say nothing of added expense.
Over here at the SmartMark table, we aren’t concerned about these barriers. We are concerned that content producers and distributors will unwittingly alienate their customers. So we offer an alternative. It is simpler, cheaper, and presumes that the customer is an honest person.