AfterDawn: Tech news

DRM is dead

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 04 Jan 2008 6:03 User comments (34)

DRM is dead

Okay, so the title may not be completely true, but the era of DRM-crippled music continues to fade, especially after today's announcement that Sony BMG has dropped DRM.
The label had been the last holdout of the Big 4, and it now joins EMI, Universal and Warner in offering its music catalog DRM-free and in MP3 format.

The first DRM-free tracks will be likely appearing at the end of the first quarter 2008, according to sources.

Amazon's MP3 store should benefit the most from the recent drop in DRM as users can move away from Apple's iTunes and towards different outlets to purchase their music.

Source:
Business Week

Previous Next  

34 user comments

14.1.2008 21:32
SamNz
Inactive

they finally gave up.

24.1.2008 21:38
pstamer
Inactive

How sweet it is.

34.1.2008 21:51

Now all they have to do is stop overcharging for individual songs and offer downloads in a lossless format and maybe I'll think about paying for music again.

44.1.2008 22:01

Originally posted by nonoitall:
Now all they have to do is stop overcharging for individual songs and offer downloads in a lossless format and maybe I'll think about paying for music again.

agree

54.1.2008 22:10

finally they see the light

64.1.2008 22:46

now they need to stop water marking digital music.

74.1.2008 23:14

Once it is official, we'll see a golden age of music buying and they'll kick themselves for being so damned stupid as to have listened to lawyers.

84.1.2008 23:50

Wow, it's kinda hard to believe the rootkit releasing Sony is dropping DRM. At least they finally got smart and dropped it though.

94.1.2008 23:51

niceeeee

105.1.2008 00:18

Originally posted by mspurloc:
Once it is official, we'll see a golden age of music buying and they'll kick themselves for being so damned stupid as to have listened to lawyers.
I wouldn't be so quick to jump the gun on that b/c a lot of the masses who aren't so computer literate really have no clue as to what DRM is and how it affects them. In my little click of friends I'm usually the one they go to when they have a computer/electronic issue or what not and they have no clue that mp3's they buy off of iTunes (for example) are DRM restricted. But either way this is a right step in the direction of who mp3's should be so finally I give a node to Sony.

115.1.2008 00:29
camaro17
Inactive

Originally posted by nonoitall:
Now all they have to do is stop overcharging for individual songs and offer downloads in a lossless format and maybe I'll think about paying for music again.

uh, i pay for all my music, i like to support my artists, and the studios that allow them to record the music.

Peace

125.1.2008 00:36

Most of the music I like is public domain. :P

135.1.2008 02:53
nobrainer
Inactive

Originally posted by WierdName:
Wow, it's kinda hard to believe the rootkit releasing Sony is dropping DRM. At least they finally got smart and dropped it though.
only from music as they still make secuROM ect.

now what needs to happen is the end of HDMI HDCP and Drm-Ray BD+ and price fixing region coding!
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Jan 2008 @ 2:53

145.1.2008 06:31
ali2007
Inactive

victory finally , by the way sony what took you so long

155.1.2008 07:01

Death to DRM!

165.1.2008 07:51

i dont know what yall complaining about. just go to limewire and get your tracks and shut up. put it on your ipod or burn em to a cd and thats it!

175.1.2008 09:08

It's not even about time. It's way past time for DRM to dwindle, fade, and become a bad memory.

185.1.2008 09:21

If DRM is fading away every so slightly. You gotta ask what is next. They will never gave up on this copy protection act that has this major media/record companies undies wedged in their crack. These companies have new fools every day trying to make a name for them selves and company with new ways to screw the general public. The day they truly give up is when we see all cd/dvd across the board being sold for $3 - $8 a pop making it easier to buy and support your favorite artist.

195.1.2008 09:31

Originally posted by spydah:
If DRM is fading away every so slightly. You gotta ask what is next. They will never gave up on this copy protection act that has this major media/record companies undies wedged in their crack. These companies have new fools every day trying to make a name for them selves and company with new ways to screw the general public. The day they truly give up is when we see all cd/dvd across the board being sold for $3 - $8 a pop making it easier to buy and support your favorite artist.
they probably thinking of CD+ hahahaha....:D

205.1.2008 11:09

This isn't anything I would be happy to call a victory at the moment. It's nothing more than a strategic chess game with the general public. If the general public as a whole would be considered the king and queen then companies like the Big 4 are set out to cause a distraction to public interest. I would believe that this is one of those distractions and they did nothing more then move their pawn. If we pay attention to some people in the forum who have already called this some kind of victory then we have just fallen to the distraction. We have Sony vs. Toshiba in the Blu Ray vs HD DVD in the format wars and for some strange reason a whole lot of the general public supports Sony and its Blu Ray technology but does not support Sony and what it stands for with the RIAA and the MPAA etc. Next we have Warner who agress to sell non DRM music but announces that by the end of 2008 they will only support the Blu Ray format of movies with Sony. Has anybody paid any attention to this. Can't wait to see whats up their sleeves next.

215.1.2008 14:35

jove:

Don't mean to be rude but LimeWire?
What are you 14 years old?

Fk LimeWire.. that doesn't even work half the time, and the other half it's loaded with Spyware and Viruses.

Even most of the decent Torrent sites are disappearing too, thanks to idiots like the RIAA and their lawsuit frenzy.

225.1.2008 14:41

Originally posted by nonoitall:
Now all they have to do is stop overcharging for individual songs and offer downloads in a lossless format and maybe I'll think about paying for music again.
"Lossless format" is not mp3. In fact, lossless is PCM (or the like) which is like a .wav file and is far too large in size for practical distribution so keep hoping. No one is going to mass distribute songs that are 40+ megs.

235.1.2008 15:25

Quote:
Originally posted by mspurloc:
Once it is official, we'll see a golden age of music buying and they'll kick themselves for being so damned stupid as to have listened to lawyers.
In my little click of friends I'm usually the one they go to when they have a computer/electronic issue or what not and they have no clue that mp3's they buy off of iTunes (for example) are DRM restricted. But either way this is a right step in the direction of who mp3's should be so finally I give a node to Sony.
Actually, if you could buy MP3s from iTunes, I'd be a happy man.
They have started their iTunes Plus program though, which is another step in that right direction.

246.1.2008 00:45

I agree, MP3's are ****... I'd prefer to pay for WMA or AAC files, at least. Lossless is never going to happen, as pointed out here.

256.1.2008 21:56

step in the right direction for the industry, but they'll probably never take back the market like they want. eventually most of the public will figure out what most of the file-sharing community already knows.

@camaro17
the "artists" the big 4 push onto the market may as well already be filthy rich before their first single drops. by the time their cd hits circuit city they have the money to never work (outside of their recording contract) again. their music's spot on the airwaves has already been paid for and the true musician simply trying to make a living has nowhere to get Real exposure.
/rant

steal this film 2

266.1.2008 23:11

DRM will have a succesor they are just moving a side for a much more powerful copy-protection scheme.

277.1.2008 04:25
nobrainer
Inactive

Originally posted by Leningrad:
DRM will have a succesor they are just moving a side for a much more powerful copy-protection scheme.
its called the digital switch over with the MPAA cronies DRM(Blu)-Ray BD+ DRM and HDMI HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection)

http://www.drmblog.com/index.php?/archiv...I__BAD_DRM.html

Quote:
HDMI + HDCP + DVI
So you have a television that has a digital tuner and is listed as being 1080i compatible. Congratulations! Are you watching HDTV? The answer is "maybe". As it turns out, the companies that make television programs and movies do not trust you and me. In fact, they think that given the chance you will steal from them and that they must protect themselves in any way they can. To this end the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) specifaction from Intel is a DRM scheme used to ensure that content traveling between HD devices is secure from copying. To connect these HD device you must use digital interconnect cables. Currently there are only two interconnects that can be used: Digital Visual Interface (DVI) or high-definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). DVI is primarily used to connect digital monitors to computers and HDMI is the standard used for home theater equipment.

What's The Problem?

The problem is that for nearly a decade now electronics manufacturers have been selling televisions that have been advertised as being HD-Ready, HD-Capable, HD-Compatible, etc. Very few of those televisions have either DVI or HDMI and the Federal Communications Commission approved HDCP as a "Digital Output Protection Technology" on August 4th, 2004. To make matters worse the electronics manufacturers are still making non-HDCP compliant devices and are not warning people about this issue. In fact if you look at the computer graphics industry the two leaders are ATI and NVIDIA. As of this writing there was no card from either of these companies that was HDCP ready.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 07 Jan 2008 @ 4:26

287.1.2008 05:04

Great news. A very good step in the right direction.

297.1.2008 15:26

Quote:
Now all they have to do is stop overcharging for individual songs...
One dollar per song is a good deal! ...That's less than the cost of a small soda at McDonalds. It's your dollar, and it's your choice. You can buy a song or a soda... If the song isn't worth a dollar to you, go buy a soda!

In the 1960s & 1970s a scratchy-sounding 45 RPM single (vinyl) cost about a dollar. Now, you can get a much better digital copy for the same price! When you figure-in inflation, the 25 RPM single would now cost about $5.

And, since record companies are loosing money, I wouldn't expect them to lower the prices too much.

308.1.2008 02:19

The AA's are giving up on DRM cuz basically it's been booty-busted. DRM offerings are basically either ignored or raped like the CSS copy-protection for DVD's. Now it's to digital fingermarks and trying to plug analog holes. How long will their virgin days last?

3113.1.2008 15:34

nobrainer got it right on the head

3215.1.2008 22:04

There are at least 2 vendors that are selling high quality non DRMed music right now. eMusic sells ultra high quality lossy formats 320 BR & VBR extreme. The other I can't remember sells lossless albums for $10.

A large portion of the data in a lossless format is dedicated preserving sounds beyond the human hearing range. It takes 2,000 times the data to preserve a 20 khz note than a 20hz note. Most 20 year olds can barely hear 20 khz note. If they listened to loud music they can't hear the tone at all. As we grow older we can't hear high notes. The average human can only hear about 18khz. Lossless preserves up to about 26khz. 320 BRs and VBR extreme cut out every thing above 20khz. VBR extreme are about half the size of a 320 because it also cuts out sounds you can't hear because they are 'drounded out' by louder sounds. 320 BRs are less than half that of a Flac (the smallest lossless format). Flac files are half the size of an uncompressed file which are about 50 megs for a 3 minute song.

I prefer VBR extremes. What is lost you can't hear so why bother with the extra baggage.

I wonder if Sony is putting the watermarks in their music.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Jan 2008 @ 7:51

3316.1.2008 16:36

jove, if you are still checking this thread, you will get banned from afterdawn if you continue to suggest the public ought to do something illegal. Using Limewire is not illegal but to suggest persons to download copyrighted material is. Being a newbie gives you some protection but not much.

DVDdoug, your analogy is interesting. However, in the days of the 45 the record companies often made a one time ownership buy out. Maybe the artist would get 10 grand for the rights to the tune. That is why many of the old time artists have no money now. Those tunes have paid for them selves many times over. There is no inflation. There isn't much inflation in the oldies music or any other music except in our own perceptions. I doubt that even in 1990 a music company would sign a contract raising the amount an artist would get each year. Therefore the Media Mafia could afford 4 for a dollar and still make probably keep more than 80 cents of the dollar. eMusic sells HQ music with no DRMs for 4 per dollar and are not going broke. In fact they are doing fantasticly well. It is probably that success that is making even Sony re-conceder. The problem with eMusic is the biggest artest they have a contract with is Johnny Cash. You need to shop through no names to find good stuff.

3419.1.2008 00:18

Lime Wire should be called Virus Wire. That is not safe sailing, although there are good no cost CC (Creative Commons) & CL (Copy Left) tracks to be had there. To get those tracks (most are offered free) I use aMule/eMule because the main websites can be for some reason slower than a sloth with quicktrot!
*
Info about alternative Copyright.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft
*
Public site with downloadable media (murderously slow in my area:S )
http://www.archive.org/index.php

Comments have been disabled for this article.

News archive