A consumer discovers the ticking DRM time bomb in Windows Vista
Despite lawsuits that Apple is abusing its monopoly in digital music (a lawsuit which should do reap damages comparable to snow cone sales during the near-zero temperatures this week in Boston), the real unrestrained monopoly out there remains Microsoft Windows, now sporting new and improved high-definition digital rights management (DRM) in Windows Vista courtesy of the digital ignorati in Hollywood. The particular issue at hand is that because Windows Vista is capable of streaming and playing high-definition content, Microsoft felt it necessary to prevent this high-value content from being copied through what is known in the industry as "the analog hole" -- that is, by converting the signal from digital to analog, thereby stripping DRM restrictions that existing in the digital stream. So Microsoft implemented a feature in Windows Vista that prevents consumers from viewing high-definition content unless it detects a digital video monitor that it acknowledges as being able to prevent copying.
Well, this week, the implications of that flawed strategy became apparent. Computer owner David Freeberg bought a new high-definition monitor to edit home videos on his Vista computer. Being a law-abiding consumer, David purchased digital movies from Amazon Unbox and wanted to stream digital movies from NetFlix, both services that he paid for. And on New Year's Eve, he entered the following DRM Twilight Zone (note: the original site has exceeded its bandwidth, but this link points to a copy of the article on Seeking Alpha):
I wrote two and a half years ago that Microsoft's HDTV DRM features were a volatile customer relations disaster waiting to happen. Why? Because Windows Vista actually disables viewing content you already have bought and paid for and been able to view on prior systems. This is rather like your new CD player deciding it won't play your CD collection because it might sound too good. It's just absurd marketing.
Aggressive DRM didn't work for Sony Music with its root kit CDs that infected user PCs with spyware; now Sony is on the verge of ditching music DRM altogether. It hasn't worked for the DVD industry, whose high-definition DVD formats are being ignored by consumers and whose copy protection has already been broken anyway. And it won't work for Windows Vista either, particularly now that consumers can "upgrade" to the more svelt and less-DRM-laden Windows XP for the foreseeable future.
Technology vendors need to remember a simple rule: the people who pay them for their products are their customers, not hardware OEMs, Hollywood studios, or music labels. Tech vendors who ignore that rule -- no matter how big they are -- risk the future of their business. It's that simple.
Let me return to the place where I started this article: Apple's so-called monopoly of digital music. Microsoft has already seen Apple eclipse its efforts in music because of its OEM friendly and customer-hostile DRM. With Windows Vista, Microsoft has opened the window for Apple to do the same to it with high-definition TV. If Microsoft doesn't want to have to compete with sleek Apple-branded HDTV systems delivering TV content along an Apple-managed digital turnpike, Microsoft has to deliver an alternative that works reliably and that customers will pay for. The question is how many years consumers will wait for Microsoft to figure that out.
Well, this week, the implications of that flawed strategy became apparent. Computer owner David Freeberg bought a new high-definition monitor to edit home videos on his Vista computer. Being a law-abiding consumer, David purchased digital movies from Amazon Unbox and wanted to stream digital movies from NetFlix, both services that he paid for. And on New Year's Eve, he entered the following DRM Twilight Zone (note: the original site has exceeded its bandwidth, but this link points to a copy of the article on Seeking Alpha):
I first found out about the problem on New Year’s Eve, when I went to log into my account. When I tried to launch a streaming movie, I was greeted with an error message asking me to “reset” my DRM. Luckily, Netflix’s help page on the topic included a link to a DRM reset utility, but when I went to install the program, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this warning.
The minute I saw “this will potentially remove playback licenses from your computer, including those from companies other than Netflix or Microsoft” I knew better than to hit continue. Before nuking my entire digital library, I decided to call Netflix’s technical support, to see if I could get to the bottom of my C00D11B1 error message.
When I called them they confirmed my worst fears. In order to access the Watch Now service, I had to give Microsoft’s DRM sniffing program access to all of the files on my hard drive. If the software found any non-Netflix video files, it would revoke my rights to the content and invalidate the DRM. This means that I would lose all the movies that I’ve purchased from Amazon’s Unbox, just to troubleshoot the issue.
Technically, there is a way to back up the licenses before doing a DRM reset, but it’s a pretty complex process, even by my standards. When I asked Netflix for more details, they referred me to Amazon for assistance.
Perhaps even worse than having to choose between having access to Netflix or giving up my Unbox movies was the realization that my real problems were actually tied to the shiny new monitor that I’ve already grown fond of.
Netflix’s software allows them to look at the video card, cables and the monitor that you are using and when they checked mine out, it was apparently a little too high def to pass their DRM filters.
Because my computer allows me to send an unrestricted HDTV feed to my monitor, Hollywood has decided to revoke my ability to stream 480 resolution video files from Netflix. In order to fix my problem, Netflix recommended that I downgrade to a lower res VGA setup.
As part of their agreement with Hollywood, Netflix uses a program called COPP (Certified Output Protection Protocal). COPP is made by Microsoft and the protocol restricts how you are able to transfer digital files off of your PC. When I ran COPP to identify the error on my machine, it gave me an ominous warning that “the exclusive semaphere [sic] is owned by another process.”
My Netflix technician told me that he had never heard of this particular error and thought that it was unique to my setup. When I consulted Microsoft, they suggested that I consult the creator of the program. Since Microsoft wrote the COPP software, I wasn’t sure who to turn to after that.
I wrote two and a half years ago that Microsoft's HDTV DRM features were a volatile customer relations disaster waiting to happen. Why? Because Windows Vista actually disables viewing content you already have bought and paid for and been able to view on prior systems. This is rather like your new CD player deciding it won't play your CD collection because it might sound too good. It's just absurd marketing.
Aggressive DRM didn't work for Sony Music with its root kit CDs that infected user PCs with spyware; now Sony is on the verge of ditching music DRM altogether. It hasn't worked for the DVD industry, whose high-definition DVD formats are being ignored by consumers and whose copy protection has already been broken anyway. And it won't work for Windows Vista either, particularly now that consumers can "upgrade" to the more svelt and less-DRM-laden Windows XP for the foreseeable future.
Technology vendors need to remember a simple rule: the people who pay them for their products are their customers, not hardware OEMs, Hollywood studios, or music labels. Tech vendors who ignore that rule -- no matter how big they are -- risk the future of their business. It's that simple.
Let me return to the place where I started this article: Apple's so-called monopoly of digital music. Microsoft has already seen Apple eclipse its efforts in music because of its OEM friendly and customer-hostile DRM. With Windows Vista, Microsoft has opened the window for Apple to do the same to it with high-definition TV. If Microsoft doesn't want to have to compete with sleek Apple-branded HDTV systems delivering TV content along an Apple-managed digital turnpike, Microsoft has to deliver an alternative that works reliably and that customers will pay for. The question is how many years consumers will wait for Microsoft to figure that out.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Certified Output Protection Protocol, COPP, Digital Rights Management, DRM, HDTV, High-definition TV, Marketing, Microsoft, David Freeberg, Windows Vista, Windows XP
posted by Carl Howe at
10:50 AM
| View blog reactions
| 
