[mythtv-users] The death blow to DRM has arrived

[Tom Dexter]

On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 2:55 PM, Simon Hobson <linux at thehobsons.co.uk> wrote:
> Eric Sharkey wrote:
>
>>BluRay is in much the same position, but there hasn't been enough time
>>to crack things as thoroughly as has been done with DVD, but it's
>>happening.
>>
>>If you have a HD set and a reasonably fast MythTV box, the quality
>>difference of BluRay is definitely worth the extra hassle.  BD-ROM
>>drives are now available for less than $80, and once the disc is
>>properly ripped and decrypted all that "limited to 480p" nonsense is
>>no longer relevant.
>
> But don't forget that IIRC the law has also changed in many places.
> The same bunch of ******* that inflicted the DRM on HD disks have
> also managed to make it a criminal offense to even possess tools to
> watch the disks in some places - let alone create and distribute them.
>
> Don't forget that Jon Johansen was arrested and prosecuted for his
> part in creating DeCSS. I don't know if the same result would apply
> now if someone were writing new software to crack the HD stuff, but
> in the US and the UK, it IS a criminal (ie you can go to prison)
> offence to create or use tools for the "circumvention of technical
> protection measures".
>
> Look forward to some bizarre court cases that will make some of the
> RIAA cases look like nothing more than a stern telling off :-(
>
>
> At the moment, I think the industry will be happy to keep moving the
> goalposts (by revoking keys) until things get so totally broken that
> the "average man in the street" starts to have problems of the "why
> doesn't my multi-thousand dollar/quid/euro/whatever setup play new
> disks ? What, I have to buy NEW kit already !" sort.
>
> Until the "average man in the street" starts to suffer from the DRM,
> they (the studios) will be able to continue justifying it's existence
> by labelling anyone (like ourselves that just want to control our own
> recreation) as thieving scumbags and freetards.
>
> What would REALLY screw them over would be if someone could find the
> key for a popular, high volume, but not too cheap, TV set (or
> preferably, several). Once these became public knowledge it would
> really put the studios in a dilemma, do they :
> a) ignore it, in the knowledge that their DRM is now broken and
> worthless (we know it is, they haven't figured it out yet).
> b) revoke the keys and suffer the backlash from consumers who find
> their expensive plasma TVs stop working right !
>
>
> --
> Simon Hobson
>
> Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
> author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
> Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.
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>

Absolutely...and for me the other issue is this:  Just because their
anti-consumer crap might get hacked (even if the legality wasn't
questionable), the simple fact is that none of that will change
industry practices.  Only the publics refusal to put up with it will.

That's why I have no pay TV, and that's why I'm repulsed by Blu-Ray.
It may be a loosing battle, but I for one am in.

Tom