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The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

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Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#81
post #14

So tonight I watched a 1080p pirated copy of Spiderman: Far From Home. And I gotta say, it was kinda crap. The sound would randomly cut out, and the compression was absolute ass (it was the perfect artifact to show people when explaining “not all 1080p’s are created equal”, especially when they’re fighting the water elemental) I really do think that DRM has won folks. We have seen the 4K HDR future, and what we find…

There's a 4K bluray rip of that movie on TPB. Granted it's 10GB but maybe you're just downloading crappy torrents.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#82
post #54

>> The purpose of DRM is to give content providers leverage against creators of playback devices. This is a good spot to place the pin. The "theological" view is that (1) copyright is a moral right. (2) The Law just protects right against wrong, and(3) economic side effects of laws are incidental. Real life is a lot less naive, so to speak. The commercial intellectual property concerns at stake are are record labels,…

My take: "The purpose of DRM is to give content providers leverage against creators of playback devices and their own consumers."

How have I regretted purchasing Blu-Rays in the past. They require an update to the drive firmware, they require their own GPU driver version, they require an update to the player software, and they try to sneak spyware onto my PC anyway. It is almost impossible to legally watch an authentic blu-ray on a Windows PC.

Similarly, how have I regretted allowing my TV to connect to the internet. The first thing that happened was that it started shoving ads into my face. So I did a factory reset and disconnected it. Now, Netflix and Prime TV are unusable. Plus the YouTube app never managed to play back 4K videos on a 4K TV without crashing.

I don't quite know why they hate me so much, but whenever I try to be nice to movie companies and purchase their stuff, they treat me like shit. And DRM is their legal whip to fuck me over. Blu-Ray? doesn't work. DRM. Offline iTunes? doesn't work in 4K. DRM. Prime TV? mandatory internet for DRM. Then ads. Netflix? mandatory internet for DRM. Then ads.

On the other hand, an mkv file on a USB stick "just works", has exceptional audio and video quality, doesn't buffer, and I can skip all the ads.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#83
post #36

This article is clickbait. The headline makes a bold claim, and then the article goes on to say: The purpose of DRM isn't to prevent copying, it's to prevent unlicensed reproduction. That is, it says 'copying' in different words, by trying to talk about things adjacent to copying, like forcing ads to play. Yes, content owners want to enforce all kinds of other things with DRM, but the fundamental thing is control of…

HDCP is trivial to circumvent but no big brand will ever sell a device that promotes this functionality.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pirated content doesn't need ads because they steal the work of people who do.

I like to think that it's people taking from corporations, while UGC is corporations taking from people, spamming them with ads, monetizing their hobbies and selling their personal data. anyway, if I pay for Netflix who has produced their own content, why should I also watch the ads for other Netflix content? Isn't it enough to pay for it?

You get ads on Netflix? Which country are you in?

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#85
post #25
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If pirate sites were allowed to flourish, they'd surely end up feeling as good as Netflix or better.

Popcorn time was/is pretty much the pinnacle of it so I'd say they got pretty close to being better than the streaming services.

There also exist a lot of centralized pirate streaming sites with huge catalogues that give you HD content right from your browser, and many of them feature players that give users more control in playback speed, video quality, subtitles etc. in an arguably better manner than any legitimate streaming service.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#86
"The purpose of DRM is to give content providers leverage against creators of playback devices."

Yes...and?

The problem with this discussion is that it looks at this issue from one side only. It is kind of implied that content providers and creators are bad guys whilst us consumers are clearly the good guys, needlessly oppressed and restricted in our supposed "right" to consume all of the content in the world in the way we see fit.

Maybe, just maybe, this leverage is a necessary evil to actually keep the lights on. If you look at Netflix, they deliver a tremendous amount of value whilst only recently becoming profitable. We're talking single digit billions, which sounds like a lot, but really isn't. Content costs a fortune to produce and is risky.

As Netflix tries to monetize, yes they will experiment with arbitrary business models that can appear consumer-hostile. It may not make sense to you to pay more for using multiple screens. It is wrong to assume though that this "harm" is because Netflix enjoys harming you. It may simply be a model because other models fail.

A very "fair" model would be entirely usage-based. You pay for how much you match as well as taking account the value of the content you watch (the production cost). This model would completely fail. It's a morally pure and fair concept, yet would be rejected by consumers. It just shows how neither party is interested in fairness or morality.

Likewise, consumers normalize account sharing, VPN into low cost countries, and buy accounts from Alibaba. All to undermine the business model.

Let's not kid ourselves as if we're doing this as part of some human rights struggle. We're just trying to get access to commercial entertainment in the cheapest way possible. We're in absolutely no position to preach or lecture.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#87
post #14

So tonight I watched a 1080p pirated copy of Spiderman: Far From Home. And I gotta say, it was kinda crap. The sound would randomly cut out, and the compression was absolute ass (it was the perfect artifact to show people when explaining “not all 1080p’s are created equal”, especially when they’re fighting the water elemental) I really do think that DRM has won folks. We have seen the 4K HDR future, and what we find…

What!? You have obviously nicked a trash release from somewhere shady; there definitely exist pirate releases that are arguably better in quality than any modern streaming service. Even after having accounts in both PrimeVideo and Netflix I often prefer to download and watch from PSArips for the sheer quality (4k with 10bit audio).

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#88
post #10

I also don’t think it’s even necessary to prevent copyright infringement to achieve a goal of effectively steering people towards paid sources. I often hear arguments that its “easier to pirate movies than use DRM’d software”. But I don’t think this is actually the case for the average non-tech-savvy person. If you can operate a torrent client or even know what one is, you are much savvier than the average Netflix/Ro…

If pirate sites were allowed to flourish, they'd surely end up feeling as good as Netflix or better.

I don't know. You have to put up with popups from streaming sites, sure - adblocker only stops most of them - but in general, playback is just fine and I can find most movies and shows.

The allure of Netflix is simply legality, but for selection it is a step backwards from a decent streaming site.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#89
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this was true until I visited an old friend in a trailer park, of which their family would borrow DVDs written with pirated movies. There were many reasons why. No internet, too expensive, no blu-ray player, etc. It was amazing how they could just put in a DVD, and instantly movie for their children. These kids had rarely ever seen an ad on TV in their life. The people who made the disks got paid, too. Mark…

> The people who made the disks got paid, too. Interesting point. Did the people who made the content get paid too? And is the value of the DVD in the physical object or the content?

> Did the people who made the content get paid too?

No, they chose to opt-out of this market.

Re: The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013)

#90

I also don’t think it’s even necessary to prevent copyright infringement to achieve a goal of effectively steering people towards paid sources. I often hear arguments that its “easier to pirate movies than use DRM’d software”. But I don’t think this is actually the case for the average non-tech-savvy person. If you can operate a torrent client or even know what one is, you are much savvier than the average Netflix/Ro…

popcorn-time used to work ten times better than any paid streaming service of today. also, no ads. there is nothing inherently difficult in watching unlicensed content. and downloading has been a thing since I can remember. Everyone in my age range or younger than me (mid 40s) should know exactly how to do it. the main two reasons people watch paid services nowadays are: 1 - they have kids and don't want to do parent…

When you're young being excluded from the principle cultural medium film/television cause social exclusion to done extent. When you can't afford to pay I think this provides a genuine moral reason for copyright infringement. With morally defensible copyright terms it might not.

As you age (30s-40s), generally your can afford more and so access some of these most popular cultural artefacts without copyright infringement; so you should pay. Also, it may become less important to establishing and maintaining friendships and status (like if you find your niche in society).

I don't think those following such a social progression need be aware of it.

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