New DRM : Ultraviolet

By ilev
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ilev

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The entertainment Industry debuts yet another DRM scheme: Ultraviolet. Access rights will be checked in the cloud.

Today, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) announced a new consumer-facing brand for the DRM system it has been working on for more than two years: UltraViolet.

DECE has more than 60 members, and includes most of the biggest names in content distribution and consumer electronics: Best Buy, Fox, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers, Panasonic, Paramount Pictures, Dolby Labs, and Comcast, to name just a few.

The group has been attempting to devise a system for video encryption that would let users share their content between devices without sacrificing the DRM. The solution the group came up with involved a cloud-based "Digital Rights Locker" that authenticates a user's privileges to watch a certain video.

Users will have to create UltraViolet accounts, where they access and manage all of their content.

http://www.betanews.com/article/The-entertainment-Industry-debuts-yet-another-DRM-scheme-Ultraviolet/1279643971

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/922204-new-drm-ultraviolet/
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ilev

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If that is not enough there is a new anti-piracy Blu-ray encryption : Cinavia , which protects the audio tracks.

"Movies protected by Cinavia technology carry inaudible codes embedded by the copyright owner in their audio tracks that indicate where and how they are allowed to be used. For example, movies that are being released to theaters can carry a Cinavia code that indicates that they are supposed to be duplicated by professional replicators and played back on professional projection equipment only,"

if the watermarked audio source detects a difference, the movie will either be mute (but most likely not play at all)."

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/03/03/new_cinavia_drm_takes_aim_at_pirates

Grand Master

Andrew Lyle Global Moderator

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I bet hackers will have gotten around it within 2 months.

That long? I predict a week or two after release.. just another gimmick to sell to major companies that will fall flat on its face and eventually become another useless piece of software in the world.

Grand Master

Prince Charming

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Actually I'm all for this. You say DRM and people start putting their tinfoils hats on and assume it has to do with 'the man' trying to oppress them and so on, but actually, this Ultraviolet stuff looks great. It means you own rights to x content, which you can then view on any device you authorise. Think of it like Steam for content - you can sign into any computer with your Steam account and play your games. It's great.

Less 'hackers will get around this' and 'omg DRM', and actually, think of what it is - you get to view the content you paid for, anywhere, on anything. This is what rights management should be. (Y) (Y)

Grand Master

Prince Charming

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great, now if my internet connection goes down i cant watch movies to pass the time anymore?

If you analogise this to Steam for video/music content, it's likely to assume there are mechanisms in place that place a fair balance between security of the platform and offline access.

Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

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Actually I'm all for this. You say DRM and people start putting their tinfoils hats on and assume it has to do with 'the man' trying to oppress them and so on, but actually, this Ultraviolet stuff looks great. It means you own rights to x content, which you can then view on any device you authorise. Think of it like Steam for content - you can sign into any computer with your Steam account and play your games. It's great.

Less 'hackers will get around this' and 'omg DRM', and actually, think of what it is - you get to view the content you paid for, anywhere, on anything. This is what rights management should be. (Y) (Y)

Thats what I was thinking too. Yes hackers will find their way around it, as usual, but this one doesn't seem to anywhere near as bad as the other types of DRM that currently exist.

What happens when the cloud goes down?

Offline access, or maybe they'll do it like Valve does. Basically, if Valve ever ceases to operate all the files will be made available without drm for people to download and play.

Grand Master

Richard Hammond

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I REALLY dont see the point in DRM like this, they say it will be easy to transfer or allow rights to your other devices, but those devices will have to support Ultraviolet DRM which means having to buy all new devices just to get support, this is dead in the water before its even been applied to any media. Something like this needs to be built into the spec before devices even start to be created.

Grand Master

Prince Charming

Posted
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I REALLY dont see the point in DRM like this, they say it will be easy to transfer or allow rights to your other devices, but those devices will have to support Ultraviolet DRM which means having to buy all new devices just to get support, this is dead in the water before its even been applied to any media. Something like this needs to be built into the spec before devices even start to be created.

Well yes, and no. Sure the hardware needs to support it, but stuff like Xbox 360s and PS3s can recieve software updates, same for iPods/iPhones, Zunes, other media devices are also usually firmware updatable. Quite a lot of more modern televisions, DVD/Blu-Ray players and set-top boxes likewise have internet connectivity and so on. Considering industry support is key to something like this, it's good to see it's backed by a very large number of appropriate companies.

Grand Master

Prince Charming

Posted
Posted

Honestly though do you expect apple to release a firmware update just to include this DRM, or any MP3/Video playback device?

As a feature of iOS 4.x or 5.something, sure, why not.

Once again, this will end up only inconveniencing the honest, paying, law abiding consumer.

I'm not sure if you read the article before commenting, but if you did, it should be clear that the whole point of this is to enable and improve access to your content across a variety of devices.

Grand Master

Vice

Posted
Posted

"The solution the group came up with involved a cloud-based "Digital Rights Locker" that authenticates a user's privileges to watch a certain video."

This just means soon as it goes live trolls will DDoS the authentication servers relentlessly just like they did with Ubisofts DRM servers.

Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

Posted
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As a feature of iOS 4.x or 5.something, sure, why not.

They probably won't. Apple has a monopoly over the iPhone audio / video capabilities with iTunes.

And I highly doubt they'll start supporting other stores and DRM when they can just keep pushing their own one.

This just means soon as it goes live trolls will DDoS the authentication servers relentlessly just like they did with Ubisofts DRM servers.

I don't think you need to be constantly online to view your files, just when you load them for authentication purposes. Ubisofts you have to be online constantly.

Grand Master

primexx

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Posted

Actually I'm all for this. You say DRM and people start putting their tinfoils hats on and assume it has to do with 'the man' trying to oppress them and so on, but actually, this Ultraviolet stuff looks great. It means you own rights to x content, which you can then view on any device you authorise. Think of it like Steam for content - you can sign into any computer with your Steam account and play your games. It's great.

Less 'hackers will get around this' and 'omg DRM', and actually, think of what it is - you get to view the content you paid for, anywhere, on anything. This is what rights management should be. (Y) (Y)

i read that in the comments and it sounds like it'd be alright if that were the case. i despise drm of any kind but i could live with the steam version.

great, now if my internet connection goes down i cant watch movies to pass the time anymore?

if they're trying to go for sensibility this time (read: steam) i'd assume that they'll grant you rights by default if the client can't contact the server. microsoft would have experience with this.

Once again, this will end up only inconveniencing the honest, paying, law abiding consumer.

yea, considering it's the movie industry, i wouldn't be surprised.

Proficient

VWW

Posted
Posted

Basically, if Valve ever ceases to operate all the files will be made available without drm for people to download and play.

Where did you hear this? I use Steam extensively and that situation has always worried me. I'd love to see the official Valve statement on that if you have a link or something?

Grand Master

Mr. Gibs

Posted
Posted

Where did you hear this? I use Steam extensively and that situation has always worried me. I'd love to see the official Valve statement on that if you have a link or something?

Theres like 2 billion + posts on the steam forums, however Gabe Newell did mention it:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10642189&postcount=28

However, there is no guarantee that this will happen. However, Valve is one of those few companies that actually listen to their users and I can see them allowing you to play the games you've already purchased even if their delivery system was gone. And that Steam is big enough that if Valve ever goes out of business another company would buy them up in a heartbeat.

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