Mayhem & Chaos Blog

DRM

Sony & DRM

Cory is keeping an excellent running tally of the happenings in the Sony-Rootkit DRM saga. My favorite post in the entire saga has to be this one post that talks about how DRM is discredited at Sony:

This all means that some of the label heads are finally starting to believe that DRM is just bad for business.

. . .

At least of the label heads has threatened never to allow another CD to go out with DRM again.

Excellent news. There is no doubt that there is great upheaval at Sony right now and that even after this upheaval dies down, Sony will be paying for its mistake for many years to come as it settles the various lawsuits that are now being filed.

What really gives me hope is that the case for DRM was always quite vague. There were no certainties and everyone kept talking about how the content could always be hacked out. No solid ROI case studies for DRM existed that showed that DRM presented improved value to the companies who used it.

Now there is a very real world example of who DRM can damage your business. Sony-BMG's image is trashed. Their artists are pissed. Moratoriums on purchasing Sony-BMG CDs have emerged. A lot of ill will has been generated and this ill will is going to haunt Sony for many years to come. I don't expect Sony to do a total turn-around tomorrow and be the poster child for anti-DRM music. Regardless of what happens at Sony, the world now has a case study of what harm DRM can do. I hope other music companies are watching and learning from Sony's mistakes.

Technorati Tags: drm, music, sony

MusicBrainz

Paycheck and traveling in Europe

I recently celebrated a momentous milestone with MusicBrainz/MetaBrainz: My first paycheck! While the first paycheck isn't much (considering that this is pay for the last 4 years, it comes to pennies per hour), but the hope is that there will be many more paychecks and that I will be able to focus more on MusicBrainz and less on hacking on someone else's projects to make ends meet.

And what did I do with my first paycheck? I went home to Hamburg, Germany. I'm here to look after and visit friends and relatives, and I've also tossed in a healthy amount of business while I am here. (The MusicBrainz Summit #7 is next weekend here in Hamburg). After two weeks of Hamburg, I move on to London for a week, where I do more business and conduct the annual face-to-face board meeting for the MetaBrainz Foundation.

While I am on the road, I'll be checking email frequently, so don't hesitate to drop me a line if you need me.

Technorati Tags: musicbrainz, musicbrainz, musicbrainz, hamburg

DRM

Sony pulls rootkit CDs, while the EFF considers filing a suit

Looks like Sony decided to pull the CD's that contain the root-kit DRM crap. Very good -- another black eye for a major company who thinks its OK to take over and expose the computers of their users. This is not OK and it is not OK to treat your customers with disrespect!

Fortunately the EFF is considering suing Sony and a class action lawsuit in California is now coming together. So, Sony, have you done the math on how much money you've actually saved by not having your content pirated? Did you include the lawyer's fees you'll have to spend to defend this lawsuit? I get the feeling that DRM isn't looking quite so cost effective anymore. The amazing thing is that Sony did this even though there are hard numbers that show that file-sharing does not actually impact the music industry! No wonder Sony is in such much trouble. Come on, make a few more thousand bad decisions and we'll see your assets sold off to the next generation music companies!

And, one final note, one former Apple exec has shunned DRM and promises not to buy anything that contains DRM. This should not come as a surprise to you, but I decided a long time ago to not purchase anything that contains DRM. Please take the pledge and post this on your blog as well!!

Technorati Tags: drm, sony, slime

DRM

Two bad technologies that go great together

So, I promised not to point out the follies of the music industry anymore, but the happenings of the last week are simple too bizarre to ignore:

1. Sony releases copy protected CDs that include a DRM root-kit that installs itself unbeknownst to the user. This installed program is supposed to make it impossible for the user to copy the CD in question. This is unethical, if not outright illegal.
2. Blizzard includes the Warden, which looks out for World of Warcraft game cheat programs. Less unethical, but still totally slimy.
3. Then, people figure out that you can use Sony's root-kit to protect yourself from the Warden.

Ok, that's a too ironic and funny. Now I only hope that the EFF will file suit against Sony.

Technorati Tags: drm, slime

Legal/Government

DMCA: Copyright office seeks feedback

The Copyright office seeks feedback on the DMCA:

The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is preparing to conduct proceedings in accordance with section 1201(a)(1) of the Copyright Act, which was added by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention.

If you have some thoughts on the issue and want to write a well thought out opinion on the matter, please submit it to the Copyright office!

Technorati Tags: government, dmca

Legal/Government

Horrific triple header in Congress: EFF appeals for help!

The EFF writes about three new bills introduced in congress:

1. MPAA's Analog Hole Bill (aka the A-hole bill): This bill would require Hollywood's approval before gadget makers could create any analog video input device. To meet approval, the device would need to look for embedded watermarks and if found, not allow the user of the device to make a copy of the content. This bill is guaranteed to have chilling effects -- no private enterprise should ever have the say of what other private enterprises can and cannot do. This is unimaginably bad!
2. RIAA's HD Radio Bill: All digital radio receivers would be required to support encryption and would not allow the export of content. This traps all the content in the digital radio receiver and prevents users from exercising their fair use rights. This also makes it more expensive to produce digital radio receivers and will impact the growth of these services.
4. Broadcast Flag Bill: This is the dreaded Broadcast Flag that has been tossed out of Congress at least three times now. Much like a zombie, it needs killing once more.

These three laws are so atrocious that I cannot even believe that any sane group of people could put forth such a set of preposterous bills. Amazing! The only funny thing about these bills was uttered by Cory Doctorow earlier this week:

Only the MPAA would call something the A-hole bill!

Well said! So, now please head over to the EFF's Action Center to speak out about these terrible bills!

Technorati Tags: congress, legislation, mpaa, broadcast flag, riaa