Microsoft to protect Disney films

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3472509.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3472509.stm</a><br /><br /></div>"Disney has joined forces with Microsoft to start selling its movies over the net later this year. The venerable animation studio has signed up to use Microsoft software to stop its films being pirated. The deal reflects Microsoft desire to establish a foothold in the home entertainment market. For its part, Disney sees the potential for selling movies via the net but it is also worried about the potential for its creations to be pirated once it makes them available for download."<br /><br />Here's the important part:<br /><br />"The system being developed should allow buyers of the Disney films a limited ability to move the movies between PCs and media players."<br /><br />One would hope that "media players" would include any Windows Media player equipped with DRM security, so I'd hope to see the Pocket PC included in this group. We'll see!

[bbarker]

Another question is how portable the content will be. When I buy a new computer and then another, and when I replace my PPC a few times, will I still have full access to my digital content? If I will what hassles will be involved? Will I have to go to some source and individually re-validate every item in my collection?

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Hmmm.....I like how the Palm Digital Reader handles activations....what are the odds they come out with a media player????

KCT

[qgman]

Honestly, I don't see why someone can't come up with a DRM system that allows unlimited copying among devices. What MS doesn't understand is that people won't buy into the "limited copy" philosophy once they learn what it is. If MS had half a brain, they'd find a way to encode a piece of sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) in each file in such a way that it can't be removed without destroying the entire file, yet would remain easily visible via a viewer program. They could then get rid of all of this silly "you can only copy a file three times" non-sense because no one would want their card number leaked all over the internet!

[David Prahl]

I'd give the warez sites about a week to crack it - maybe less.

[sponge]

Knowing MS earlier attempts at DRM, it's probably already cracked :P

[tsb_hcy]

More worthless BS. Why waste time and money on something that can't be done? Piracy is here forever.

[dean_shan]

This will only work if the price of digital videos are way below that cost of a DVD or if they offer exclusive content.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

If MS had half a brain, they'd find a way to encode a piece of sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) in each file in such a way that it can't be removed without destroying the entire file, yet would remain easily visible via a viewer program.

Yup....this is the Palm Digital Reader model for activation.....it's tied to "me" and not a device.....think about it: who bought the media, me or the device????

KCT

[Partita]

I'll give the web 20 minutes to crack the DRM.

[Gerard]

From the version of things I heard about relations between Pixar and Disney, seems Disney wanted way more control than Steve Jobs was willing to give up. So he made them an offer they could only refuse, and sent them scuttling off to find another partner. Now, what do you suppose are the chances that Microsoft is going to let Disney maintain the kind of control they prefer in the long haul, or even for a few years? I think I smell time-limited media access on the horizon; movies which might work for a while, but cease to be supported when the deal goes sour because Disney wanted too much say in how things operate.

Now Disney is buying up almost every lame story that walks in the door in terms of animation for TV and other media. I heard it's at a rate of 4 new show pilots going into production every 2 weeks. They're paying the crews peanuts, like $400/week or a little more if they can multi-task, and expecting first class quality. Old Walter must be doing cartwheels about now, considering his relentless approach to quality. If this keeps up, Disney's releases aren't going to be worth grabbing. Of course, the pirates will anyway, just because there's always a market for the Disney logo, no matter how bad or repetitive the stories get.

[John C]

If MS had half a brain, they'd find a way to encode a piece of sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) in each file in such a way that it can't be removed without destroying the entire file, yet would remain easily visible via a viewer program.

Yup....this is the Palm Digital Reader model for activation.....it's tied to "me" and not a device.....think about it: who bought the media, me or the device????

KCT

Isn't it the media companies that are supporting and pushing MS's DRM? Sure, MS created it, but most likely with the input and approval of the media providers.

While a lot of people on these forums praise Palm Digital's model, from the user's point of view, I would be leery of it if I were a publisher. Since the protection is tied to a number, what is to prevent someone from getting a new credit card, buying a bunch of books, canceling the card, and then selling/distributing the media with the now useless credit card number key to whomever they please? For that matter, what makes Palm's scheme any less crackable than MS's?

John

[jeffmd]

as for hoping the pocket pc is included into it. I doubt the movie will be offered in a low enough quality to play on a pocket pc.

[Gerard]

...what is to prevent someone from getting a new credit card, buying a bunch of books, canceling the card, and then selling/distributing the media with the now useless credit card number key to whomever they please?
The problem there is, if the average person cancels a credit card, they still leave a very easily investigated trail to their name, their location. If a professional criminal obtained a credit card under false identification, then purchased a bunch of titles for illegal redistribution, then cancelled the credit card or not, well, that's what criminals do. Kind of awkward for most people though. I wouldn't have a clue how to get a credit card without using my real identity, and don't want to know. Credit card numbers are monitored fairly carefully, and if one left a trail of files all over the place, sold online or otherwise, they it would seem only a matter of time before the authorities came knocking.

As for that 'low enough quality for the PPC' comment on distributed media; at fullscreen 320x240 and 24fps at around 800kbps, there's not a lot to complain about when watching a movie. Many of the newest PPCs are fully capable of displaying such high quality, and with the Toshiba e80x devices with a dedicated graphics processor, full VGA on a 4 inch screen makes for a movie of as good apparent quality as most mini-DVD players costing much more. I see no reason at all why a version compressed to 150MB or even 300MB per movie wouldn't be included in such distributions as Disney and Microsoft are contemplating. Seems foolish if they ignore a potential market of a couple of million or more eager consumers! With Microsoft's upcoming WM OS version promising full support for screen rotation and alternate resolutions, it seems at least from their perspective that high-res movies are in the cards. I doubt Disney is ignorant of these developments, nor would the OEMs be in the dark. And with CF memory getting cheaper all the time, it's doubtless not going to take long before one can buy a *locked 256MB CF card with a movie on it for $30 or less.

(* meaning copy-protected and not writeable either)

[surur]

If MS had half a brain, they'd find a way to encode a piece of sensitive personal information (such as a credit card number) in each file in such a way that it can't be removed without destroying the entire file, yet would remain easily visible via a viewer program.

Yup....this is the Palm Digital Reader model for activation.....it's tied to "me" and not a device.....think about it: who bought the media, me or the device????

KCT

Isn't it the media companies that are supporting and pushing MS's DRM? Sure, MS created it, but most likely with the input and approval of the media providers.

While a lot of people on these forums praise Palm Digital's model, from the user's point of view, I would be leery of it if I were a publisher. Since the protection is tied to a number, what is to prevent someone from getting a new credit card, buying a bunch of books, canceling the card, and then selling/distributing the media with the now useless credit card number key to whomever they please? For that matter, what makes Palm's scheme any less crackable than MS's?

John

Simply, as credit cards involve access to real money, they are very tracable. If you leak a book with your CC #, Palm would know it is you, even if the number is useless.

Surur