3 ms·

Casual copying has become pretty much irrelevant, though. This isn't the 90s any more; now one person releases a torrent and thousands of people end up download

by fpig 10y ago

Casual copying has become pretty much irrelevant, though. This isn't the 90s any more; now one person releases a torrent and thousands of people end up downloading it. When was the last time you copied some media or a piece of software from someone, even for things with no copy protection that are legal to copy? I don't even bother to copy stuff between my own computers, instead I just download it again... To prevent piracy you'd need to stop the people who are experts at breaking copy protection (which has been a spectacular failure so far) because everyone else is just downloading their stuff and completely avoiding copy protection.

Silhouette 10y ago
Casual copying has become pretty much irrelevant, though. This misconception seems to fuel a lot of the anti-DRM arguments, but I'm afraid it's a misconception all the same. For one thing, modern online and hardware-based copy protection systems can actually be quite effective. Contrary to popular wisdom among geeks, they don't all get cracked automatically within five minutes. Illegal rips of films or TV shows mostly originate from other sources, not the online streaming services. As for software, take a look at what is actually being copied in terms of, say, the latest games. If the copy protection even takes a few days to crack, for a new AAA title that is going to be the big thing for a month or two, that could be a huge win for the publisher. Remember, we're talking about a target market who are irrational enough to pre-order big name titles, even though there is little if anything in it for them to commit their money before the game is even finished or reviewed. As far as these people are concerned, they must have their new shiny on day one or the world will end, and if they can't get it with a quick crack, a lot of them are going to pay for it. Another factor that is often overlooked is that most creative content isn't Hollywood blockbusters or AAA games. A lot of creative content is aimed at much smaller, niche markets. There's far less incentive for crackers to spend a lot of time breaking any protections on that content, but the damage done through infringement can be worse because a lot of this stuff is created by individuals or small teams and usually it isn't super-profitable in the first place. A second factor that often gets overlooked is that a lot of people simply don't realise when copying and sharing content is not permitted or legal. Most people aren't computer experts or IP lawyers. If you don't provide some sort of technical barrier, even if it's just a token effort that makes it clear that they're doing something they shouldn't be, plenty of people will copy and share and not even realise they're doing anything wrong. I've even seen messages sent to some of my businesses from people who literally told us (after being kicked for blatantly violating our terms) that if we didn't want that to happen we shouldn't offer content in the standard, DRM-free formats. To prevent piracy... Most of the time, trying to prevent 100% of piracy is a futile gesture. But like any other form of security in technology, it's a sliding scale, and some is still better than none.
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  Copy protection on software like games can be useful. On Netflix? Not at all. It's easy to bypass, and even if it worked perfectly, you just need a cheap HDMI splitter and a capture card. The reason you don't see a lot of rips off Netflix is because Netflix doesn't get a lot of things first, not because the DRM is effective. As far as technical barriers, recording a stream is tricky enough in the first place. You can't right click save on Netflix, even in the absence of DRM.

by fpig 10y ago

Silhouette 10y ago

Casual copying has become pretty much irrelevant, though. This misconception seems to fuel a lot of the anti-DRM arguments, but I'm afraid it's a misconception all the same. For one thing, modern online and hardware-based copy protection systems can actually be quite effective. Contrary to popular wisdom among geeks, they don't all get cracked automatically within five minutes. Illegal rips of films or TV shows mostly originate from other sources, not the online streaming services. As for software, take a look at what is actually being copied in terms of, say, the latest games. If the copy protection even takes a few days to crack, for a new AAA title that is going to be the big thing for a month or two, that could be a huge win for the publisher. Remember, we're talking about a target market who are irrational enough to pre-order big name titles, even though there is little if anything in it for them to commit their money before the game is even finished or reviewed. As far as these people are concerned, they must have their new shiny on day one or the world will end, and if they can't get it with a quick crack, a lot of them are going to pay for it. Another factor that is often overlooked is that most creative content isn't Hollywood blockbusters or AAA games. A lot of creative content is aimed at much smaller, niche markets. There's far less incentive for crackers to spend a lot of time breaking any protections on that content, but the damage done through infringement can be worse because a lot of this stuff is created by individuals or small teams and usually it isn't super-profitable in the first place. A second factor that often gets overlooked is that a lot of people simply don't realise when copying and sharing content is not permitted or legal. Most people aren't computer experts or IP lawyers. If you don't provide some sort of technical barrier, even if it's just a token effort that makes it clear that they're doing something they shouldn't be, plenty of people will copy and share and not even realise they're doing anything wrong. I've even seen messages sent to some of my businesses from people who literally told us (after being kicked for blatantly violating our terms) that if we didn't want that to happen we shouldn't offer content in the standard, DRM-free formats. To prevent piracy... Most of the time, trying to prevent 100% of piracy is a futile gesture. But like any other form of security in technology, it's a sliding scale, and some is still better than none.

Dylan16807 10y ago
Copy protection on software like games can be useful. On Netflix? Not at all. It's easy to bypass, and even if it worked perfectly, you just need a cheap HDMI splitter and a capture card. The reason you don't see a lot of rips off Netflix is because Netflix doesn't get a lot of things first, not because the DRM is effective. As far as technical barriers, recording a stream is tricky enough in the first place. You can't right click save on Netflix, even in the absence of DRM.