Video industry plans escape from iTunes with 'open' standard
Afraid that Apple will gain the sort of lock on downloadable video that it did with music, Sony and a group of video business heavyweights are planning a new standard that would let copy protected movies and TV from any participating service work with many devices..
Put under the umbrella name of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, the coalition was started by Sony Pictures but now includes rival studios Fox, Lionsgate, NBC Universal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Microsoft and web security firm VeriSign are also onboard, as are hardware makers such as Cisco, HP, Philips and Toshiba. Alcatel-Lucent and Best Buy are also part of the venture.
Officially, the goal is to create an interoperable but still locked down approach to distributing videos online where buyers or renters could simply assume that an online video could work. As long as a device is in the user's "domain," content would play. In a presentation on DECE obtained by AppleInsider, Sony also claims that such a system would create a much more consistent rights environment: customers wouldn't face shifting copy limits if they choose to switch stores, while many stores today are ultimately balkanized.
On Monday, the studio also noted that DECE rules would be looser than they are with many video services today. A shopper would have the option to make unlimited copies, including the DVD burns that have regularly been off-limits at current online providers. In the strictest conditions, a user could still have access to a "locker" which recalls the customer's rights to play certain videos and stream content without any permanent copy involved.
But while this public objective is meant to remove some of the isolation between stores, Sony's presentation also underscores an attempt to head off Apple at the pass. The movie giant cites iTunes' prominence as a music store as an example of "the problem:" by allowing proprietary stores to exist, the music industry has effectively left the dominant format in Apple's control. The latter's decision to move quickly on downloads essentially cornered the market by making it first past the post, Sony says.
Adopting DECE as a standard would prevent this from happening to video by divorcing control from the individual stores and making the rights the service offered to the end user.
The consortium plans to unveil its more detailed strategy for DECE during the Consumer Electronics Show in January, though the described approach bears some similarity to Microsoft's PlaysForSure standard. On its invention in 2004, the Windows Media-driven approach was envisioned as guaranteeing that content from supporting stores would always play on approved computers and devices; that standard continues to struggle for acceptance as its heavy dependence on Microsoft-made software has left it out of the current market, where Microsoft is only a minority.
Both Sony's outline and outside speculation also suggest the movie production house is worried that it might have to remove DRM its videos, which it sees as a negative that would make sharing too easy, remove obligations and prevent companies from invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to enforce usage rights.
Put under the umbrella name of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, the coalition was started by Sony Pictures but now includes rival studios Fox, Lionsgate, NBC Universal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Microsoft and web security firm VeriSign are also onboard, as are hardware makers such as Cisco, HP, Philips and Toshiba. Alcatel-Lucent and Best Buy are also part of the venture.
Officially, the goal is to create an interoperable but still locked down approach to distributing videos online where buyers or renters could simply assume that an online video could work. As long as a device is in the user's "domain," content would play. In a presentation on DECE obtained by AppleInsider, Sony also claims that such a system would create a much more consistent rights environment: customers wouldn't face shifting copy limits if they choose to switch stores, while many stores today are ultimately balkanized.
On Monday, the studio also noted that DECE rules would be looser than they are with many video services today. A shopper would have the option to make unlimited copies, including the DVD burns that have regularly been off-limits at current online providers. In the strictest conditions, a user could still have access to a "locker" which recalls the customer's rights to play certain videos and stream content without any permanent copy involved.
But while this public objective is meant to remove some of the isolation between stores, Sony's presentation also underscores an attempt to head off Apple at the pass. The movie giant cites iTunes' prominence as a music store as an example of "the problem:" by allowing proprietary stores to exist, the music industry has effectively left the dominant format in Apple's control. The latter's decision to move quickly on downloads essentially cornered the market by making it first past the post, Sony says.
Adopting DECE as a standard would prevent this from happening to video by divorcing control from the individual stores and making the rights the service offered to the end user.
The consortium plans to unveil its more detailed strategy for DECE during the Consumer Electronics Show in January, though the described approach bears some similarity to Microsoft's PlaysForSure standard. On its invention in 2004, the Windows Media-driven approach was envisioned as guaranteeing that content from supporting stores would always play on approved computers and devices; that standard continues to struggle for acceptance as its heavy dependence on Microsoft-made software has left it out of the current market, where Microsoft is only a minority.
Both Sony's outline and outside speculation also suggest the movie production house is worried that it might have to remove DRM its videos, which it sees as a negative that would make sharing too easy, remove obligations and prevent companies from invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to enforce usage rights.
Comments
Interesting how there was not a single iPod in the second example image -- do they intend to keep their content away from 80% of MP3 players?
You assume that they excluded Apple. It is much more likely that Apple refused to participate. Doing so would help Apple's competitors reduce iTunes' strength in the music industry.
I really hope that this standardized DRM (calling it 'open' is just helps spread the false idea that it is in any way comparable to DRM free files) does not slow down the adoption of DRM-free media distribution. I think it probably will though, which is a shame.
I really don't see what these companies are going to accomplish by standardizing DRM. Unless they prevent a single DRM-free copy of these files from getting on the internet, they are not going to hamper piracy with DRM. Apple's DRM made sense because it locked people into iTunes/iPod, but standardized DRM? Maybe the intention is just to lock people *out of* iTunes/iPod.
All the user needs is a username and password for their keyholder account, and would log in exactly as you do on the iTunes Music Store, only your account information would be the same for all digital stores. With this system, the media itself is still tied to each individual device in whatever proprietary format and DRM the device creator chooses, but the user has unlimited usage of the media in that it's not tied to any single device. A licensing system can work if all the major players recognize the license.
How dare you:
-not pay a tax to the movie and music industries when you purchase a consumer electronics device (yes, this 'plan' definitely includes a tax on all devices, labelled "licensing fees", paid indirectly to the labels)
-not pay a tax to the movie and music industries when you transfer their precious content from one device to another (you might not have to pay at the beginning, but you WILL have to if this can kill the iTMS)
-pay a reasonable fee, similar to the price of a CD or DVD for a movie or a song. The industry must be able to charge significantly more and/or go back to forcing the bundling of 10-15 songs at a time for them to be able to make any money at all.
The industry hasn't approached Apple to join this project simply because the purpose of this project is to put Apple's iTMS out of business AND to force Apple to accept the industries terms WITHOUT negotiation. They know it, and Apple knows it. The industry doesn't want the general public to realize this until it's too late, and they get significant industry adoption, so you don't have a choice but to buy a device with this incorporated in it if you want to listen to music or watch a video.
That doesn't help them if I get the urge to buy something after the stores have closed, i either download it for free or forget about it by the next day.
The industry hasn't approached Apple to join this project simply because the purpose of this project is to put Apple's iTMS out of business AND to force Apple to accept the industries terms WITHOUT negotiation. They know it, and Apple knows it. The industry doesn't want the general public to realize this until it's too late, and they get significant industry adoption, so you don't have a choice but to buy a device with this incorporated in it if you want to listen to music or watch a video.
Exactly. That was the only reason the big three music labels "allowed" DRM-free MP3's to be sold through everyone's music store.... except Apple's. Anyone that backs an endeavor like this will only be shooting their own foot.
I can't wait to download music from the Shell Oil online music store! [last picture]
You assume that they excluded Apple. It is much more likely that Apple refused to participate.
Then why is iTunes listed in the top of the graphic as a participating store?
-- Jason
Seems fair.
Also, maybe I missed it, but what format are these files going to be in? How can the same DRM work for a Windows media file as well as an Mpeg or an AVI file? If video and audio files are to be interchangeable in this broad fashion, they'd do better to standardise the formats before they worry about DRM. I don't see MS giving up their attempt to control the formats, so even if the DRM is the same, I still couldn't watch the video on my player of choice.
Lastly, they are basing this on the mistaken assumption that people actually *want* to buy stuff form multiple outlets. This is just not true. No one wants to go all over town price shopping for DVD's and no one wants to check out five different online stores to see who is offering things cheaper. The companies themselves want this because it means at least some of the time you will overpay for a product.
I'd definitely put this in the "unlikely to succeed" column. Bottom line is that the easiest way to achieve the goals they are setting out here (interoperability and multiple vendors) is to simply offer the product at a reasonable price and without DRM. When a group of companies like this gets together and then *doesn't* pick the simplest solution, you know something is fishy.
And why isn't this illegal anyway? Collusion amongst all the top media companies to fix sales criteria, prices and control? This is just a monopoly in effect.
- Is Apple in trouble?
- What should they (Apple) do?
- Should they abandon AppleTV?
I really like the iTunes model. But then again... almost all my gadgets wears the Apple logo
Like everybody here I lean towards Apple solutions and Apple's way of thinking but the concept of proprietary formats is inherently undemocratic and unfair for the end users as well as for the 'players'. It is expensive, it hinders innovation and necessitates duplication. If I buy a piece of music I should never have to be concerned with where or how it is played back. What I buy is the 'right' to listen to that piece of music however I choose. The function of any available music playing device should first and foremost be to serve that end in the best possible way. In a practical day to day sense I don't care if my content is locked to Apple - at this point in time, anyway - but who knows what the situation will be in 10 or 20 years. From a political and philosophical pov I completely resent having my content tied to any device or brand, whether it belongs to Apple or Microsoft or whoever.
Before iTunes (and after), we as a mac users were locked out, unable to do anything such as: order musics at napster, walmart, microsoft and other music/movies sites (before it was DRM-free). iTunes saved us and it's tightly integrated.
Their ideas = bullock. I know there will be softwares + hardwares incompatibles (like you cannot run software on a last year model, only required this year model.) I doubt it will be any good b/c they will hurry up and all they think is the profit they want and lack of innovation and creativity. Also, I'm not sure if this was SONY powerpoint but I've noticed there aren't any mac or iphones in 2nd slideshow - so I assumed they will lock us out again like it was before iTunes.
hulu.com is a good site BUT close to iTunes for now. iPhone/iTouch is a good device and no other device are close to it.
Good luck Sony and whoever with it.