4 ms·

> Can you go to Netflix and just download a .mp4 of their latest show? Nope You're fundamentally questioning the need for DRM - which is naive. Netflix AND the

> Can you go to Netflix and just download a .mp4 of their latest show? Nope You're fundamentally questioning the need for DRM - which is naive. Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work. I'm not sympathetic to the Studios who've historically been sharks, but Netflix (with DRM) is an equitable model - stream anywhere for a fixed monthly fee. FYI - you can save Netflix shows for offline consumption, within the app

bradstewart 7y ago
I pay Netflix for convenience. I most certainly would not cancel my subscription if they removed DRM. In fact, I'd probably pay a bit more for the ability to download content for the rare occasions I want watch it on a different device.
- writepub 7y ago
  An anecdote is irrelevant. There's vast amounts of peer reviewed research that supports the need for DRM, and unequivocally proves the financial harm piracy can inflict on content creators
  - joshuamorton 7y ago
    > An anecdote is irrelevant. There's vast amounts of peer reviewed research that supports the need for DRM, and unequivocally proves the financial harm piracy can inflict on content creators Could you give an example (or many) since as you say the evidence is vast. I did a cursory search, and couldn't find sources, but perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places.
    - coretx 7y ago
      Torrentfreak.com tends to cover all sides of the story in a human readable format.
  - ken 7y ago
    Amazon Music went DRM-free in 2008. The iTunes Store went DRM-free in 2009. Bandcamp has always (AFAICT) been DRM-free. Were musicians harmed by these? I can't find any musician, economist, or researcher who has ever complained about this, or suggested that DRM would help their financials.
    - captn3m0 7y ago
      I don’t think Prime Music is DRM Free anymore.
      - patch_cable 7y ago
        The streaming service is not DRM free. You can still purchase and download DRM free mp3s.
        captn3m0 7y ago
        The music purchase service never launched in my country (.in)
    - writepub 7y ago
      We're taking about streaming services (Netflix specifically). The accurate comparison is that Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, etc. all DRM their services.
  - coretx 7y ago
    Most of it being financed by the big 4. Also, most mentions rights holders not content creators. That's a big and important difference. It's the difference between hard working people and rent seeking capitalists abusing their market power. Another Also,when you are a service provider, DRM is a expensive anti-feature thus detrimental to the quality of service provided and convenience experienced by the customer. There is no research necessary to see this stimulates piracy.
MadWombat 7y ago
> Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work. Maybe they should. I think having open standards for collaboration is more important in the long run.
- coretx 7y ago
  The big studios will probably cease to be able to enforce their business model but firms like Netflix won't care about piracy / free marketing since their model is based on providing a service that beats piracy.
xoa 7y ago
>Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work This is literally precisely what the music industry said. Repeatedly and ever more loudly as Apple in particular turned the screws. And then they did away with all DRM on buying digital music. Oh, turns out that was all a pile of bullshit, they didn't go out of business, and their motivation for DRM was not piracy but rather control. Their dream was to repeat the format change gold mine, where they could resell the same content over and over again. But in terms of selling once nope, DRM-free was no problem.
shakna 7y ago
> Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work. The fact that every video a streaming studio gets is available to pirates to download within moments of it becoming available suggests that DRM does not in fact give them anything but the appearance of security. It's required by content providers and film studios as a matter of course, but has no reflection that it actually works in the real world.

bradstewart 7y ago

I pay Netflix for convenience. I most certainly would not cancel my subscription if they removed DRM. In fact, I'd probably pay a bit more for the ability to download content for the rare occasions I want watch it on a different device.

writepub 7y ago
An anecdote is irrelevant. There's vast amounts of peer reviewed research that supports the need for DRM, and unequivocally proves the financial harm piracy can inflict on content creators
- joshuamorton 7y ago
  > An anecdote is irrelevant. There's vast amounts of peer reviewed research that supports the need for DRM, and unequivocally proves the financial harm piracy can inflict on content creators Could you give an example (or many) since as you say the evidence is vast. I did a cursory search, and couldn't find sources, but perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places.
  - coretx 7y ago
    Torrentfreak.com tends to cover all sides of the story in a human readable format.
- ken 7y ago
  Amazon Music went DRM-free in 2008. The iTunes Store went DRM-free in 2009. Bandcamp has always (AFAICT) been DRM-free. Were musicians harmed by these? I can't find any musician, economist, or researcher who has ever complained about this, or suggested that DRM would help their financials.
  - captn3m0 7y ago
    I don’t think Prime Music is DRM Free anymore.
    - patch_cable 7y ago
      The streaming service is not DRM free. You can still purchase and download DRM free mp3s.
      - captn3m0 7y ago
        The music purchase service never launched in my country (.in)
  - writepub 7y ago
    We're taking about streaming services (Netflix specifically). The accurate comparison is that Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, etc. all DRM their services.
- coretx 7y ago
  Most of it being financed by the big 4. Also, most mentions rights holders not content creators. That's a big and important difference. It's the difference between hard working people and rent seeking capitalists abusing their market power. Another Also,when you are a service provider, DRM is a expensive anti-feature thus detrimental to the quality of service provided and convenience experienced by the customer. There is no research necessary to see this stimulates piracy.

MadWombat 7y ago

> Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work. Maybe they should. I think having open standards for collaboration is more important in the long run.

coretx 7y ago
The big studios will probably cease to be able to enforce their business model but firms like Netflix won't care about piracy / free marketing since their model is based on providing a service that beats piracy.

xoa 7y ago

>Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work This is literally precisely what the music industry said. Repeatedly and ever more loudly as Apple in particular turned the screws. And then they did away with all DRM on buying digital music. Oh, turns out that was all a pile of bullshit, they didn't go out of business, and their motivation for DRM was not piracy but rather control. Their dream was to repeat the format change gold mine, where they could resell the same content over and over again. But in terms of selling once nope, DRM-free was no problem.

shakna 7y ago

> Netflix AND the studios would go out of business in no time without the ability to protect their work. The fact that every video a streaming studio gets is available to pirates to download within moments of it becoming available suggests that DRM does not in fact give them anything but the appearance of security. It's required by content providers and film studios as a matter of course, but has no reflection that it actually works in the real world.