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> This might seem like a hard rant, but all of these binary blobs can be broken with varying degree of difficulty -- as this person's work shows -- because DRM

> This might seem like a hard rant, but all of these binary blobs can be broken with varying degree of difficulty -- as this person's work shows -- because DRM is fundamentally pointless. I think that this ease of circumventing DRM is actually an indirect, but major, reason why movie theaters will never really go away. Online streaming new movie releases is great for direct-to-consumer business, but it comes with the risk of losing control of your distribution due to ease of piracy. Why would a frugal person pay $30 for "premier access" to a new movie on Disney+ when they can just go to Pirate Bay and torrent a perfect-quality rip for free? It's much easier to keep AMC Theatres in line than a global network of average Joes.

wincy 5y ago
I used to go to the movie theatres all the time and spend $30+ to see a movie in the Dolby Digital Experience and the like, but it’s easier for me to pirate than it is for me to sign up for whatever streaming service and watch a movie there. They’re always available immediately after release in the highest quality.
pornel 5y ago
DRM is not about piracy. Content producers know that all their content ends up on PirateBay anyway, and know DRM causes them support costs and lost customers. For content distributors DRM is still worth in because of the power it gives them in dictating how the content can be viewed. They can demand hardware manufacturers to give them prominent placement, or be blocked. They can sell the same content over and over again for every screen type and platform individually, with rules and prices at maximum each will bear. They can set their own rules, instead of relying on general provisions of the copyright law.
- 10000truths 5y ago
  But the point is that DRM doesn't give content producers power over how content can be viewed. I could, if I wanted, go on The Pirate Bay and torrent Black Widow for free, and watch it however, wherever, whenever I want, regardless of whatever DRM Disney+ has on their streaming. It doesn't matter whether hardware manufacturers are restricted from displaying DRM content, because they can be bypassed entirely.
  - pornel 5y ago
    But that happens only after they've already sold the finely-carved distribution contracts, got branded TV remotes, and kickbacks they wanted. The legally-operating companies that sign contracts need to act like DRM is real, because the law says it's real.

wincy 5y ago

I used to go to the movie theatres all the time and spend $30+ to see a movie in the Dolby Digital Experience and the like, but it’s easier for me to pirate than it is for me to sign up for whatever streaming service and watch a movie there. They’re always available immediately after release in the highest quality.

pornel 5y ago

DRM is not about piracy. Content producers know that all their content ends up on PirateBay anyway, and know DRM causes them support costs and lost customers. For content distributors DRM is still worth in because of the power it gives them in dictating how the content can be viewed. They can demand hardware manufacturers to give them prominent placement, or be blocked. They can sell the same content over and over again for every screen type and platform individually, with rules and prices at maximum each will bear. They can set their own rules, instead of relying on general provisions of the copyright law.

10000truths 5y ago
But the point is that DRM doesn't give content producers power over how content can be viewed. I could, if I wanted, go on The Pirate Bay and torrent Black Widow for free, and watch it however, wherever, whenever I want, regardless of whatever DRM Disney+ has on their streaming. It doesn't matter whether hardware manufacturers are restricted from displaying DRM content, because they can be bypassed entirely.
- pornel 5y ago
  But that happens only after they've already sold the finely-carved distribution contracts, got branded TV remotes, and kickbacks they wanted. The legally-operating companies that sign contracts need to act like DRM is real, because the law says it's real.