SD Card Copyright Protection on Handsets Non-Standard?

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16327' target='_blank'>http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16327</a><br /><br /></div>There may be trouble ahead in the world of SD media. The Inquirer are report from Computex that:<br /><br />"….the way SD cards try to handle copyright protection doesn’t exactly match the handset industry’s initiative. Which is going to be a problem if you’re a network operator like O2 which is trying to encourage its subscribers to pay to download music. At present, if you store a music clip onto the handset’s CD card and then tried to insert that SD card into a different kind of device – such as a music centre, for example – in theory the SD card's copyright protection should kick in and prevent this. Because you don't have the right licence. Why? Well, although the SD in SD Memory Card stands for 'secure digital', it is actually built to comply with the SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative) specification of CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media). CPRM is a standard jointly developed by the 4C Entity, LLC – that’s the digital rights protection organisation created by Intel, IBM, Toshiba and Matsu****a."<br /><br />It gets a bit more complicated than that but the upshot is, if you buy music from a network operator (which has to be stored on a SD card) and you insert the card into your PDA, it probably won't play. Oh joy. :?

[gorkon280]

Well DUH. The SDMI was always ment to prevent this. When I learned about this a while back, there was no iTunes. BTW, this isn't anon standard....it's jsut a old one that never got used.

[farnold]

No problem... the vendors will invent new mechanisam to make their content propriatry... the hackers will crack it anyway... and only the paying customers are hurt...

Great idea to piss off customers, what the industry comes up with. Doesn't SONY work on a system that only allows you to play your music on a SONY?

The hungry greed of organisation will just fire back on them... Standards and Open is the future - and some may not be part of it.

Just my 2c.

[bjornkeizers]

I'm a member of the hacker/cracker part of this equation, and I'm certainly not impressed. Considering cracking most encryptions is as easy as tying my shoelaces... Sometimes all you need is a magic marker.

In the end, you're only hurting the paying consumer; you're certainly not stopping the crackers. The only thing you're doing is drive your customers away. I want to buy software and I want to buy music (within reason) and I want to pay for my E-books - but when I do, the companys are punishing me with all sorts of restrictions, encryptions etc. because they don't trust their own customers...

I bet that if they dropped all forms of encryptions on music, software and Ebooks, people would actually buy more of them!

I read about a study that was conducted recently. Researches put out a stack of books with a sign next to them saying something like "$2 per book" and a box. The books and box were left unattended. At the end of the day, the books were gone and not a single dollar in the box. Next day they conducted the same experiment, but now the sign said "Free books!" At the end of the day, all the books were still there....

I know this from experience: hackers/crackers don't do it to steal stuff; in fact, most of them pay for their software. They do it because it's a hobby, and because they encourage fair use. If I bought a DVD, I want to be able to make a copy of it; same with my books and music. When I can't, I'm forced to find other means to do so.

[Jonathon Watkins]

I read about a study that was conducted recently. Researches put out a stack of books with a sign next to them saying something like "$2 per book" and a box. The books and box were left unattended. At the end of the day, the books were gone and not a single dollar in the box. Next day they conducted the same experiment, but now the sign said "Free books!" At the end of the day, all the books were still there....

Interesting, but could it be that someone stole the money at the end of the day? :wink:

I can understand the motivation to 'protect' content, but this SD card method is not the way to do it. :?

[Kacey Green]

I know somewhere in the past MS said they weren't going to do copyright protection (more than a simple "CD key" [I know that's a new term]) because those that were doing so at the time were just hurting their customers. But between win 3.1 and win XP something went horribly wrong.

[Janak Parekh]

I know somewhere in the past MS said they weren't going to do copyright protection (more than a simple "CD key" [I know that's a new term]) because those that were doing so at the time were just hurting their customers. But between win 3.1 and win XP something went horribly wrong.
Perhaps, but Product Activation and DRM schemes are substantially different.

--janak

[Kacey Green]

I was just noting that it was interesting that they have backtracked on that, on the tie-in is that product activation and MS's WMA DRM are very closely related (except you can't call in to get your music playing agiain)

[Janak Parekh]

I was just noting that it was interesting that they have backtracked on that, on the tie-in is that product activation and MS's WMA DRM are very closely related (except you can't call in to get your music playing agiain)
:huh: What tie-in are you talking about? I still don't understand. If you are asserting that Microsoft once promised something like product activation would never happen, got a link? I have no such memory... and besides, product activation isn't copy protection per se.

--janak

[Kacey Green]

sorry you are right, they don't stop us from copying the discs, as long as we have the code, and if you have a consumer or OEM version the activation as well.

I remember them saying they wouldn't do all the dongles etc that were popping up back then, but activation seems to be the same concept as the dongle to me.

Whatever happened to where they (can't remember if it was MS or Adobe) said that piracy was why software costs so much? If these new approaches are working why does windows cost ~$300? and adobe more than many second hand cars? (think photoshop)

sorry for the triple point but this subject makes me hot :evil: punish the legitimate customers for the wrongdooers, who are going to get around the protections anyway. :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Janak Parekh]

I remember them saying they wouldn't do all the dongles etc that were popping up back then, but activation seems to be the same concept as the dongle to me.
Activation is a lot cleaner than dongles. Dongles were an absolute nightmare.

Whatever happened to where they (can't remember if it was MS or Adobe) said that piracy was why software costs so much? If these new approaches are working why does windows cost ~$300? and adobe more than many second hand cars? (think photoshop)
Piracy is a big problem for Microsoft. There are tons of bootleg copies of Microsoft products out there. As to whether it has affected the price, that's a good question.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like activation. At all. But, again, the tie-in with DRM is not clear to me. Is your message "don't trust Microsoft"? Even if that's what you're saying, it doesn't have a whole lot to do with this discussion, so let's get back on topic.

--janak

[Kacey Green]

sorry one last OT post, My point was when are we going to see these lower prices?

ON topic
Why can't the record co.s just use what is already there and compatible than making some new **** up? or using some obscure tech that won't allow us to take it with us? I can understand the desire to protect your product but as far as I can tell they serve the same purpose as handango and pocket gear serve for PPC developers (don't need them but they have the potential to help. The musicians are capable of selling their own music.