DRM TV
Are we getting shafted with Digital TV?
I always suspected that the temptation to tamper with the traditional Free To Air TV model would be too strong once the networks go digital. If the Electronic Frontier Foundation is to be believed, it's already started.
Digital TV means DRM, basically.
DRM means amongst other things:
* Enforcing severe home recording and copying limitations. Content Protection and Copy Managment (CPCM) will allow content providers to apply copy restriction labels to broadcast streams. For example, a program could be marked as "Copy Never." In turn, your DVRs and others devices receiving the signal will have to obey and forbid copying even for home use. A content provider could opt to allow recording but still enforce a multitude of restrictions on copying to other devices.
* Imposing controls on where you watch a program. Even if you are given permission to move a program to your laptop or other portable devices, "geography controls" may kick in and stop playback once you leave home or a particular locale. These restrictions may be enforced using tamper-proof GPS receivers built in to your devices. CPCM can also be used to block sending video to yourself over your own home network or the Internet, among other things.
* Dictating how you get to share shows with your own family. CPCM can be used to examine, for instance, the frequency with which devices are connected to a personal network and determine whether your sharing is within an "Authorized Domain" Absurdly, DVB spent significant time arguing over what happens to a digital video in case of a divorce!
* Breaking compatibility with your devices. You may have already invested in new high definition displays and receivers that rely on component analog connections or unrestricted digital outputs, but CPCM will allow the studios to arbitrarily block these connections. In other words, individual copyright holders can turn your gadgets into oversized paperweights. CPCM- restricted media will also be able to carry blacklists and revoke compatibility with particular devices that don't enforce Hollywood's restrictions sufficiently.
That doesn't sound like Free To Air, does it?
We need to start thinking about DRM in our TVs here too, because it's already here. TVNZ's new on-demand site only works with Windows Media Player because of DRM and some content that you pay for self-destructs after seven days.
I don't think a tax-payer funded organisation like TVNZ should dabble with viewer-hostile technology like DRM.
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Comments
That which Techsploder sees as a "temptation to tamper with the traditional Free To Air TV model" is more than a mere temptation. It is a golden opportunity for commercial interests. Left unchecked, this will inevitably subvert
and doom "Free To Air TV". I see the cause and cure as political; under our current paradigm of government this trend will continue until the populace actively seeks correction through political means or the broadcast industry has maximized its profits to the extent the subscribers can pay.
I was about to buy a new HDTV but that is now on indefinite hold.
Posted by: Robert Agar | January 14, 2012 5:47 AM
I've been talking to some OEMs recently, who say consumer sentiment against DRM is very strong - for the reasons you describe above.
Why would you plonk down thousands of dollars on new equipment when there's a tangible risk of it either not displaying content at all, or if one bit of the DRM chain isn't up to scratch, shows it in severely degraded mode?
Posted by: Juha | March 20, 2007 6:18 PM
We also have the hardware issues to think of, like HDCP. If your monitor (ie. $4000 42" LCD display) isn't HDCP compliant it will not accept digital signals from HDMI or (I believe) DVI connections. It will downmix them to analog.
Which is why I am holding off purchasing any hardware until I KNOW what the requirements for successful playback are on my expensive purpose-built HTPC.
Posted by: gkar | March 19, 2007 6:38 PM