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

[Simon Hobson]

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

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