The purpose of DRM is not to prevent copyright violations (2013) • Hacker News Board

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

#71

Post by DoingIsLearning » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 9:45 AM UTC

norman784 wrote: post #48

Uehreka wrote: 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…

If you are linux user you cannot consume legal content (that you paid for) in high quality, even when you are paying for it, iirc Prime gives you 720p and Netflix 1080p.

And legitimate Disney DVDs are unplayable without installing all sorts of extra packages.

So much friction added to something that I own. Certainly was the last legitimate purchase I will make of any Disney content.

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

#72

Post by netcan » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 9:50 AM UTC

darawk wrote: 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…

I disagree.

The point this article is making is that DRM, as it works, is highly conducive to "platform" power. Whether or not this is the "true purpose" is a rather meaningless question, beyond casual rhetorical usage.

The language of the legislation, legislators, perhaps judges will likely refer to protecting the moral rights of creators. IRL, "creator" can be whoever owns the Beatles catalogue. IRL, the who and how of controlling "playback and distribution," dictates what kind of a company will make the commercial gains.

Those irl concerns exist, effect legislation and its details a lot. You could call those the "true purpose," but IMO there ain't no such thing as a generally true purpose. Different actors have different purposes.

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

#73

Post by kebos » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 9:51 AM UTC

DRM is a requirement of the insurance providers who insure distributors and pay out if the distributor leads to the content being leaked.

In reality the DRM technology isn't that important its more akin to the questionnaire you get for car insurance that says do you have a thatcham alarm.

Too much analysis looks at this from technical angle when it's really an insurers tool to lower their risk (only to lower it!).

It's not a big deal when a device/content is compromised merely a policy pays out in the background to the provider to the effect of % lost revenue. All normal insurance ruled apply, payout decided by expert witness, higher premiums for less secure devices etc.

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

#74

Post by johnebgd » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 9:56 AM UTC

DRM manages rights like jail manages freedom.

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

#75

Post by TchoBeer » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:03 AM UTC

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #59

_the_inflator wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't underestimate the amount of tech knowledge people have nowadays, especially if it will save money. This works also in the opposite direction. I know of some couples, who can easily share even 200USD/month on streaming services, however they consider "the alternatives" to "save money", who are of course illegal here in Europe. Nowadays "saving" let's say 20USD for Netflix per month is - in my opinion - a very…

> Nowadays "saving" let's say 20USD for Netflix per month is - in my opinion - a very bad bargain considering the fact, that you can end up paying a lot of punitive damages. Funny thing is that pirated content is the only ethical content I know of, that doesn't rely on ads (streaming services have ads too, even if you pay)

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

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

#76

Post by jackthezipper » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:14 AM UTC

TchoBeer wrote: post #75

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays "saving" let's say 20USD for Netflix per month is - in my opinion - a very bad bargain considering the fact, that you can end up paying a lot of punitive damages. Funny thing is that pirated content is the only ethical content I know of, that doesn't rely on ads (streaming services have ads too, even if you pay)

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

It's not stealing it's sharing.

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

#77

Post by peoplefromibiza » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:28 AM UTC

TchoBeer wrote: post #75

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays "saving" let's say 20USD for Netflix per month is - in my opinion - a very bad bargain considering the fact, that you can end up paying a lot of punitive damages. Funny thing is that pirated content is the only ethical content I know of, that doesn't rely on ads (streaming services have ads too, even if you pay)

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?

#78

Post by jacksonkmarley » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:29 AM UTC

Uehreka wrote: 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…

Sometimes I think it's the copyright holding companies spamming downloaders with these crappy versions to gaslight them into thinking the official versions are always better.

#79

Post by juliendorra » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:29 AM UTC

zo1 wrote: post #70

consp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I never actually used Popcorn Time. What made it so great?

It was as easy to use as an official streaming service is, with integrated subtitles downloads in the background (from open subtitles), links to trailers and critics sites (it also pulled a lot of metadata from different sources).

Popular movies were always on top of the list because the default sorting was by seeders and these movies would load instantly

At the time it was the best streaming experience existing, paid or free combined.

[edit] oh and install was just dropping an all-in-one app somewhere on your computer and launch it.

#80

Post by aspenmayer » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 10:33 AM UTC

zo1 wrote: post #70

consp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I never actually used Popcorn Time. What made it so great?

Mostly the GUI, which is reminiscent of Netflix, and also the torrent client config. You hit play button on a video poster image, client sequentially downloads blocks of videos until the buffer outruns the download rate (this is the main difference from other clients which can’t/don’t download blocks sequentially), then it autoplays, pausing for more buffering if needed, with one click.