With the dawn of another new year, it's time for another "Year Ahead" preview. This one may be a bit different than most -- aside from the copious footnoting -- since it's going to focus on just one area of PC hardware and software. But it's a doozy, mainly because the subject is going to affect everything.
I'm talking about Digital Rights Management,1 and for the first time, the DRM war2 is taking place on your PC hardware. This is far and away the most important new development in home PC use today, and for consumer advocates, it should be among the most worrisome.
The end of this month will mark two critical points: The launch of the consumer edition of Microsoft Windows Vista, and the finalization of the Advanced Access Content System agreement.
Both are indications that the war has escalated from the days of DeCSS and Sony rootkits.3 Instead, we have whole operating systems fortified for the protection4 of digital content. (Medical imaging researcher Peter Gutmann detailed the problems this poses in his widely-read paper here, describing a Microsoft Windows Vista that's bloated and demanding in terms of system requirements, while offering relatively little in return to customers.)5
More radically, we are now poised to have in place entire hardware systems designed to support this sort of digital control. We have CPUs incorporating digital rights management protections, à la Intel's DTCP-IP.6 We have graphics chipsets that can block the output of unapproved HD content. We have display technologies designed to lock out unlicensed content.
In all, we have Digital Rights Management from soup to nuts: From media packaging (cable/satellite/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray/etc. and their related peripherals/electronics) to processing (CPUs and graphics cards, as well as hardware and software players) to delivery (via compliant HDTVs and PC monitors), the content industry has created a nearly seamless media supply chain that effectively obviates much of consumer choice and flexibility.
Ironically, we as consumers will be the ones ultimately footing the bill for all of this.7
Lest this column turn into another diatribe about the dangers of "control creep" or on the far-reaching greed of the media industries, I'd like to focus on the chief reason why this affects you. Mainly, to support this new infrastructure, computer buyers and builders will be forced into paying extra for features of future hardware -- features that serve to limit its usefulness.
 Vista's DRM compliance mechanisms. Click to enlarge. Source: Marsh, "How To Implement Windows Vista Content Output Protection," WinHEC2006 presentation. Link (PPT) |
1A common misnomer, in that it doesn't manage rights as so much as enforce use restrictions.
2Barely a war. "War" implies at least two opposing sides, and the anti-DRM lobby is hardly mobilized.
3The settlement for which was itself one of the great injustices of the year.
4Another misnomer.
5Linux users have to face fact that they won't be getting HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support anytime soon, thanks in part to the way those media require DRM technology licensing.
6Short for Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol. It's a DRM-friendly protocol that prohibits the transmission of protected packets over IP. Intel's not the only processor maker dabbling in this sort of thing, of course. Additionally, you may wish to check out the membership of the Trusted Computing Group for a look at additional DRM-like technologies in the works.
7Specifically, the rise of these DRM technologies in 2007 and beyond will force everyone from hardware manufacturers, system builders or software developers to begin charging more from their customers. The buck stops, as it inevitably does in these cases, with the end-user.
| Table of Contents |
| • Introduction |
| • HD-DVD and Blu-Ray: The First Wave |
| • V for Vendor Victimization |
| • Following the Money |
| • 1984, All Over Again |
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
