On Sat, 2007-06-16 at 10:19 +0100, mike chamberlain wrote: > 1. Rights holders insist on time limited DRM solution. > 2. Only Microsoft supports a time limited DRM. > 3. Therefore, in order to conform to point 1, BBC have to use > Microsoft based DRM.
I would phrase it slightly differently. 1. Rights holders ask for a time-limited DRM solution. 2. Microsoft offer a time-limited DRM solution. 3. The BBC accepts that this is a placebo; DRM doesn't really work. 4. The BBC offers this 'solution' to the rights-holders, knowing that it will actually be broken like all the other DRM solutions and it only _really_ serves to inconvenience the consumers. When a clueless person walks into a shop and is sold a 'solution', there is a legal obligation on the part of the shop assistant not to mis-sell, on the basis that the shop assistant is presumed to be an expert in the field. I'm sure the same _law_ doesn't apply here, but the moral principle should. I am very disappointed by the BBC's actions. They have a duty to the the public, and they _also_ have a duty to help the people who have come to them with such strange ideas, rather than disingenuously _pretending_ to meet their requirements. The BBC are failing on both counts. The world didn't fall on our heads when the MPAA failed to ban the VCR in 1984. And it won't fall on our heads when we wake up and drop DRM either. By reducing the usability of the content, you effectively prohibit almost _all_ innovation and development around the platform. It's not that the DRM won't be cracked -- of course it will. But you make people live in fear of generating programs and tools for dealing with that content, just like we live in fear of shipping programs which can allow you to view your legally-purchased DVDs. I don't see how anybody can think that's a good thing. Especially anyone subscribed to this particular mailing list. -- dwmw2 "I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." -- Jack Valenti, MPAA. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
