Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, the DRM of the future?

We've heard this about this dream so many times before, DRM that will make digital media as easy to use and as consumer friendly as a physical medium like DVD. We'd normally be quick to disregard this as yet another DRM "ecosystem" for digital media, but the list of players backing the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (or DECE) has us taking notice. As impossible as this seems, if anyone could make it happen, it'd be a group composed of: Best Buy, Cisco, Comcast, Fox, HP, Intel, Lions Gate, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Philips, Sony, Toshiba, VeriSign, and Warner Bros -- yes, we also find it hard to believe that all these companies are working together. We'll have to wait until January at CES for the ins and outs of how this would actually work, but we do know it'll be based around a "rights locker" which will amount to a website where digital purchases will be stored -- we assume this is where VeriSign fits in. Oh, and Apple is noticeably absent from the list

[Kris S. @ Sep 13th 2008 6:14PM]

Nooooo! All forms of DRM are EVIL!

[Matthew C @ Sep 13th 2008 6:15PM]

you stole my coment - like word for word. cept i hadnt written it yet

[Sudo @ Sep 13th 2008 6:21PM]

Steam is a form of DRM and it is great.

[Bob @ Sep 13th 2008 6:31PM]

its great if you want to actually pay for the games... piracy is great because its free... and we all know that free is better

:)

[The Dude @ Sep 13th 2008 6:38PM]

NO WAI. My carbon footprint is WAI bigger than yours. And you know what they say about big carbon feet-prints.








...
"Damn, he must have some big carbon feet-print socks."

[BigD145 @ Sep 13th 2008 6:55PM]

Kill DRM. Kill it with fire.

[WhoMe @ Sep 13th 2008 7:44PM]

Funny how when it came out Steam was almost universally criticized, whereas now it is always held up as the shining example of digital distribution/DRM done right.

[zfurie @ Sep 13th 2008 7:58PM]

We should fight back with PRM! Privacy Rights Management.

Then they pay us to consume their content!

We get $1.99 to watch an episode of 24.

[john @ Sep 13th 2008 10:10PM]

BOOOOOOOOOOH!!

[BigD145 @ Sep 13th 2008 10:23PM]

They'd have to pay me more than that to watch just one episode of 24.

[Tiptup300 @ Sep 13th 2008 10:40PM]

I like this idea, you buy a movie and it's in your collection forever. You can't sell it or back it up, but you don't need to. Because you can just download it some other time. It also can't be stolen, it's yours.

[sk8rpro @ Sep 13th 2008 10:48PM]

"We've heard this about this dream so many times before, DRM that will make digital media as easy to use and as consumer friendly as a physical medium like DVD."

The only way to make digital media consumer-friendly is to kill DRM.

Is every consumer with me? Down with the DRM!

[loosely_coupled @ Sep 13th 2008 11:58PM]

Amen! I don't care how many support it, I will NEVER buy ANYTHING with DRM. And you all should do the same!

[Johan S @ Sep 14th 2008 2:26AM]

The best DRM is a dead DRM.

DRM sucks! Fuck DRM, fuck DRM's mother, fuck DRM's dad, and fuck DRM's mother's pimp for pimping her out to him.

[jorvay @ Sep 14th 2008 9:39AM]

Simply print out the image from this blog post and carry it with you. That way you know exactly what companies to boycott. Thank you Engadget for compiling my boycott list for me!

[telepheedian @ Sep 14th 2008 8:16PM]

Not quite. Steam rocks, and subscription music is dirt cheap and pretty effective.

[ah-palin @ Nov 13th 2008 12:01AM]

Damn Right, Man.

[Ian @ Sep 13th 2008 6:14PM]

well anything that makes it easier for the consumer!

o yea and can we PLEASE get the returning comment tab to WORK

[Matthew C @ Sep 13th 2008 6:16PM]

works for me

[put4558350 @ Sep 13th 2008 9:35PM]

If they put content providers image on top. it likely a try-to kill apple and sale more than $1 a song.

[who? @ Sep 13th 2008 6:15PM]

Not. iPod. Compatible.

NOoooooo!!!!

[Jamma @ Sep 13th 2008 6:37PM]

Apple's fault, no one else's.

The best way to solve this problem is to not buy an iPod

[Totalfixation @ Sep 13th 2008 6:38PM]

Apple has no reason to join. if this thing takes off it will most likely put a damper on Apple's stock.

[who? @ Sep 13th 2008 6:48PM]

NBC is back on iTunes though, so I'm good.

[Quix @ Sep 14th 2008 12:26AM]

@ lawyer bird

1) Most people don't get TV for "free." My outrageous monthly cable bill proves my point. And not only am I already *paying* to get these shows (via my cable bill), but I'm *also* being forced to watch commercials. Double whammy.

2) Watching shows on one's computer sucks. I didn't buy a nice sofa and a home theater system to sit in my office chair and watch shows in a small window on my too-high-resolution computer monitor. Website-based TV viewing (Hulu, etc.) is an idea doomed to extinction.

3) TiVo isn't free either. My monthly TiVo subscription bill proves my point.

[Ray @ Sep 14th 2008 1:51AM]

Man, apple is so 1337, they dont even play with these noob drms

[sonic5919 @ Sep 14th 2008 2:03AM]

@ Quix

1) One of the best high definition sources available is ATSC broadcast, completely free.

2) If you spent money on a home theater system and don't have a computer connected you wasted money somewhere. Hulu, Netflix's Watch Instantly, and sites like comedycentral.com all have decent quality content with low amounts of commercials for free.

3) If you are using a HTPC, a cable/sat provided DVR, or most non-Tivo DVR's you pay close to nothing for the actual DVR service.

If your going to do a three point response to a one line message make sure they are actually good points.

[siddharth @ Sep 13th 2008 6:15PM]

ppl are still going to choose the easiest form of obtaining content... torrents

[Bob @ Sep 13th 2008 6:25PM]

ScT FTW


HDBits FTW


BitMeTV FTW



private trackers FTW

[Kyledl @ Sep 13th 2008 6:57PM]

I think the point of this DRM is to be a wallled garden, and hardware based. Meaning that once you download that torrent, you wont have a device to play it on. Queue surge of DRM-free chinese knockoff appliances.

[ethana2 @ Sep 13th 2008 7:06PM]

..speaking of, does OSX come with a torrent client like Transmission or does a person have to actually know what a torrent client is to download stuff with torrent files?

[zenstylejunglist @ Sep 13th 2008 7:48PM]

@Ethana2 That's a pretty dumb question. Or a smart question & your just dumb.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 13th 2008 7:56PM]

@zenstyle

Hard to call someone dumb when you can't fucking spell.

[mr. engadget @ Sep 13th 2008 7:59PM]

wow, another engadgeter that uses private trackers... I thought this day would never come. For those of you that don't know, private torrent trackers like TorrentLeech and TorrentBytes (use google if you've never herd of them) give you access to the fastest and most reliable pirated content available. The sites that Bob listed are the best trackers out there, but there are other trackers (like TorrentLeech and TorrentBytes) that will get you connected to some great piracy networks and are much easier to get into (you will need to work your way up to those amazing trackers that Bob listed).

Leave kazaa, limewire, and isohunt behind! Get into the private tracker world! :)

[zenstylejunglist @ Sep 13th 2008 8:22PM]

@Serial 8-Ball Mouse

My spelling skills are fine. I just have bad grammar skills :)
Who's the man now, dog!?

[Ian Kennedy @ Sep 13th 2008 10:52PM]

Easy for dorks like us perhaps.

The shiny disc is dead. Sony thinks they won the HD disc war but it was merely a diversion while less clueless players get their act togehter for the online side of things.

And it is a FACT that before we get awesome 1080p/24 goodies online legally it will need to be protected. The content providers need to trust the systems their content goes to. This issue of trust is the main reason you see all sorts of cool HD stuff on the xbox 360 but not Windows Media Center. Content providers just don't trust the PC. So this development is not surprising.

Now, for my boilerplate piracy spiel directed at nobody in particular:

1- Yes, 1337 hax0r d00d, I know "all movies are crap." That fails to explain why you spend bandwidth downloading 1080p MKVs of all this alledged crap. Be a man, admit you're just a thief too cheap to buy your movies.
2- "OMG! DVDs are SOO EXPENSIVE. So I steal them." STFU retard. I can't afford a Ferrari but have yet to jack one. Which leads me to:
3- "It's just bits MAN! Bit's don't cost anything! The bits want to be free, MAN!" Ok. Put down the bong, hippie and don't mind me while I clean all the bits out of your bank account. After all, they;re "just bits" and they want to be free.

I think that jsut about covers it. And yes, I torrent stuff occasionally. And I know it's wrong. Sure, I have excuses. But that's beside the point.

[Hellaphunt @ Sep 15th 2008 11:44AM]

@ zenstylejunglist

YOU have the bad grammar, my friend. Try substituting "your" with "you're" then criticize someone on their English.

[Mike @ Sep 13th 2008 6:15PM]

nice to see steve is still sticking to the no DRM pollicy wish other companys would follow suit

[A Kalam @ Sep 13th 2008 6:26PM]

The only reason Steve isn't a DRM fan is because he has nothing to lose. iTunes makes pennies from songs,etc. So Apple doesn't care much about piracy and can afford to take the popular-with-consumers, anti-DRM approach, and end up looking like the good guys. If they were actually were content providers, it'd be a whole different story...

[Juxtah @ Sep 13th 2008 6:33PM]

no DRM policy? HA!

Want to put that music you bought from itunes on a player that isn't an iPod? No wait, you can't because of DRM!

[chefgon_ign @ Sep 13th 2008 6:34PM]

Steve's iPod empire was built on a foundation of stolen music. If Napster never existed, the iPod never would have taken off.

[Juxtah @ Sep 13th 2008 6:40PM]

What made you think Apple is anti DRM? Was it their store of which 99%+ of it's offerings are protected by DRM? It's innovative features for keeping people locked into iPod hardware for fear of losing that DRM laden collection? Or the fact that even though noname companies like 7digital have managed to sign up most major music companies under DRM free deals, that Apple continue to offer their DRM versions? (7digital also undercuts Apple on most songs btw)

[TheMagnificen7 @ Sep 13th 2008 6:59PM]

@Juxtah Actually, with the iTunes + songs, you can put them on another player. Steve is anti-DRM, but only because he can afford it.

[Vanillacide @ Sep 13th 2008 7:53PM]

Juxtah: that would be Steve Job's public letter asking for record companies to remove DRM from music. EMI obliged and their music, and some smaller labels, is DRM-free on iTunes. The other large record companies continue to force Apple to use DRM on iTunes whilst promoting DRM-free on the likes of Amazon because they are obviously using DRM as leverage against iTunes.

[KarlW @ Sep 13th 2008 11:32PM]

This group has some serious clout.

- Philips Research is one of the best R&D departments in the world. They've been making breakthroughs in everything from particle physics and energy efficiency, to badass LED lightbulbs and air humidifiers.
- Warner and Sony represent a significant amount of digital media content. I'd guess at least 75%.
- Microsoft has an overwhelming market share in desktop OSes, have a significant majority in server OSes, have a significant R&D department, and have been making advances in digital content for ages (WMA, WMV, VC-1...etc). Oh, and Windows Media Centre and the 360 mean they also have control over living room media.
- Sony have significant market share in games consoles, TVs, HiFis, phones...etc. All the devices you'd like your digital media to work with.
- VeriSign have been leading in data encryption and integrity for years.
- Cisco have significant R&D in data security. Why couldn't the technologies which protect this DRM share it's security features or engineering design with corporate networks? They're both about limited access, there's bound to be a lot of overlap for technologies to cross sides. They've also got a lot of experience for creating the back-end servers to make sure it's hard to crack.

I don't know why Best Buy are in there. Apart from them, it's pretty much the who's-who of data security and digital media corporations. Apple is a notable absentee. I think they'll join, though - those studios could put pressure on Apple to support it. It's hardly a secret that the content providers aren't comfortable with Apple's dominance in digital media.

[Mr. Right @ Sep 13th 2008 6:23PM]

DRM = suck my balls

[Shan @ Sep 13th 2008 8:46PM]

DRM = Doesn't Really Matter

Torrents FTW!!!

[Metamorphic @ Sep 14th 2008 7:39PM]

You are Right.

[Zinger314 @ Sep 13th 2008 6:24PM]

DRM causes global warming.

[ethana2 @ Sep 13th 2008 7:05PM]

Actually, I blame gentoo portage for that.

..but DRM does eat babies.