There is a story in the current issue of Maximum PC that is disturbing to say the least. It’s about the next generation of optical disks. (The first nightmare is that two incompatible standards, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, have emerged with no sign of convergence– it’s VHS vs. Beta all over again!)
Apparently, these new disks will implement a set of tools that will make it more difficult to copy DVDs. Some of these tools may even require internet access so that content providers can look at your computer and examine your hard drive and mother board before allowing you to look at a video. There will be an encrypted key on the disk, and an encrypted key on the hardware. That can’t work unless you have an internet connection, so it just may be possible that people who choose not to go on the internet will not be able to play Blu-Ray or HD-DVD on their computers. And even if you do have an internet connection, I’ll bet you look forward to waiting, once again, for some content provider to load up your screen with advertising and distractions that you didn’t ask for, while ostensibly registering your transient possession of the goods.
This would not be a problem for anybody if the market place were just and fair and the government genuinely believed in free enterprise. Some vendors and manufacturers would quickly realize something that is readily apparent to anybody: that consumers don’t want digital copy protection schemes because they make it more difficult to enjoy your media, and because advertising and copy protection is annoying, and because it is often done so badly and inefficiently that most consumers are ready to throttle someone, anyone after waiting and waiting and waiting for their devices to finish loading and registering themselves and downloading advertising onto your hard drive.
But “free enterprise” is a myth intended to pin you to the ground while corporations, lawyers, and congressmen pilfer your pockets. The last thing in the world Hollywood wants is competition.
In this case, the myth becomes transparent when you realize that content providers like Warner Brothers and Disney and Viacom are forcing hardware companies to incorporate copy protection schemes into their products even though you don’t want it, the hardware companies don’t want it, and there is no legal justification for it. They are forcing them to do this by threatening them with legal action, and by recruiting their cronies in congress (mostly Republicans) to threaten to pass legislation requiring them to do it.
What if you were a young, independent movie-maker and you decided that, at least early in your career, you would happily trade fame and recognition for royalties on every copy of your movie distributed. What if your movie was too controversial, or idiosyncratic for the Hollywood studios, and you decided to distribute it yourself on Blu-Ray disks? Do you think you are going to be allowed to?
Consumers want large capacity optical drives so they can back up their photos, videos, and data. Undoubtedly, some consumers want large capacity optical drives so they can steal high definition movies. So what? Some people buy guns so they can rob banks, but these same Republicans who prostrate themselves gleefully before the NRA have decided that not only should you be able to buy a gun any time and any place you feel like it– you should even be able to shoot people in public places if they look even mildly threatening to you, at least in Florida.
But you can’t buy Blu-Ray recorders because you might steal a copy of Lord of the Rings.
Or even worse– you might watch a version of a film that has been rated as safe for Europeans to watch, but not for North Americans! Will the perniciousness of video pirates known no bounds!
Or worse yet– you might want to prevent Hollywood from forcing you to watch advertisements or previews when you already paid to watch the movie!
Now– I do not object to Hollywood protecting their investments. Not at all. All they have to do is issue their movies on a proprietary format which can only be played on their own proprietary devices. That’s all. Go for it Sony. Embrace your greed, Warner Brothers!
Ah…. but they don’t want to do that. Because they know that you won’t buy it. They know that their sales will suffer. They know that the consumer doesn’t like nasty, wasteful, inefficient proprietary devices. They know that you will prefer to buy or rent movies on the non-proprietary format, so that you have some control over what and when you watch.
No no no– it’s much more elegant to simply hijack the medium, and then, in cooperation with your fellow-travelers, the hardware vendors, try to ensure that other media formats are not permitted to flourish. They must be stamped out and destroyed. Because consumers have shown over and over again that they don’t want big corporations controlling their media players.
Important Links