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Shouldn't Linux embrace DRM?
TechRepublic ^ | 31 May 2011 | Jack Wallen

Posted on 06/01/2011 5:54:22 AM PDT by ShadowAce

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There is a poll at the website, if you are interested.
1 posted on 06/01/2011 5:54:24 AM PDT by ShadowAce
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

2 posted on 06/01/2011 5:54:57 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce
... Linux embrace DRM...

I don't know; Virginia is still a pretty conservative state when it comes to morals and such. I think we have a LAW against stuff like that.

3 posted on 06/01/2011 5:57:15 AM PDT by WayneS ("I hope you know this will go down on your PERMANENT record...")
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To: ShadowAce

DRM has been the argument for why Mono/Moonlight can’t get Netflix working on all the distros right?


4 posted on 06/01/2011 6:04:37 AM PDT by Minus_The_Bear
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To: ShadowAce

The problem with DRM, copyright and the rest is that it is all one sided with the consumer having few if any rights.

70+ years for copyright is too much. Not being able to legally copy a DVD I’ve bought and paid for is wrong.


5 posted on 06/01/2011 6:08:24 AM PDT by johncatl (...governs least, governs best.)
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To: ShadowAce
One of the biggest, current, issues is the inability to play Netflix streaming content on Linux.

If that is the biggest problem the article author has, he should consider buying a ROKU or similar box to stream Netflix. Such boxes cost about $75.

A bigger problem I have found in trying to run Linux is its inability to recognize much of my hardware/peripherals and my widescreen LCD monitor.


6 posted on 06/01/2011 6:08:53 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: ShadowAce

Accept DRM? Not sure I really care. My computer habits don’t include movies or music. (I have been a Linux user since about 1995)

BUT, the author suggests something that makes a lot of sense. If the “artist” had a medium whereby they could collect their fees they would no longer need the “Music Industry”.

The computer as a tool has made that VERY Possible.


7 posted on 06/01/2011 6:09:40 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Government, even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one)
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To: ShadowAce
How could something created to protect the income and intellectual property of the creative artists be bad?

That's not what it was created for. It was created to protect dying business models and to force end users to continue to purchase 'rights' to the same as many times as possible.

While I'd like the option to have Netflix on my Linux HTPC, I don't think DRM on Linux is feasible. In order for DRM to be effective, it needs to effectively control the entire system. The problem is that so-called 'content owners' are not the boss of my Linux machines: I AM.

So, if there's a way to have some kind of self-contained DRM on the system that doesn't get in my way and only deals with Netflix, that's fine. However, if you think someone won't circumvent it in about 2 seconds flat, you've got another thing coming.

8 posted on 06/01/2011 6:12:19 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (Fascism is nothing but moderate communism.)
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To: perfect_rovian_storm
In order for DRM to be effective, it needs to effectively control the entire system.

And, I think, that is where DRM on Linux is not feasible at all. While DRM can argue it's need is greater than yours (not well, but it has succeeded with the yo-yo OS), it cannot argue that with the other content creators on your system--namely the OS writers/contributors. The sheer number of people/organizations require to come into agreement for such a thing to be possible is staggering.

I don't think it is possible.

9 posted on 06/01/2011 6:16:44 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: TomGuy

When was the last time you tried? What distro? Ubuntu/Mint are pretty great at recognizing everything out of the box.


10 posted on 06/01/2011 6:16:55 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (Fascism is nothing but moderate communism.)
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To: perfect_rovian_storm; TomGuy
Ubuntu/Mint are pretty great at recognizing everything out of the box.

I installed Fedora 15 on a brand new core i7 HW RAIDed MSI GT680R without a single hitch. Everything just works--RAID, video, sound, and wireless.

11 posted on 06/01/2011 6:18:59 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce
DRM only affects those who buy something legally. Any form of DRM will eventually break, fail, die, or be abandoned; causing problems for people's entire collections of legally purchased material. In the short term, DRM may help produce better material for purchase, but in the long term DRM is a devil's bargain.

There is a problem when pirate material is superior to purchased material. DRM is only one facet to consider. Have you ever been forced to watch an unskippable preview before the movie? Pirates are never forced to watch the "Don't pirate this movie" blurb.

12 posted on 06/01/2011 6:24:12 AM PDT by Tao Yin
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To: ShadowAce

What do you think of Unity?


13 posted on 06/01/2011 6:25:54 AM PDT by Minus_The_Bear
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To: TomGuy
Once upon a time, long, long ago that was a problem with old distros. I'm using an HP laptop (widescreen) with a second widescreen monitor with my desktop spread over both screens. SUSE11.2 works just fine.

/johnny

14 posted on 06/01/2011 6:26:39 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: ShadowAce

I will say this - the writer of this article makes his case very clearly, very logically, states his biases upfront, deals with some of the inherent contradictions and reasons his way to a conclusion. I wish I could write that well. He opens by saying he writes for a living - and then goes on to demonstrate the veracity of that statement!


15 posted on 06/01/2011 6:28:55 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten (Welcome to the USA - where every day is Backwards Day!)
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To: ShadowAce

DRM is not the law in many jurisdictions. DRM is the law under a hundred permutations in other jurisdictions. DRM is specifically illegal in a few jurisdictions.

As long as there isn’t a NWO controlling OS distribution, open source OSes can not keep pirates from compiling DRM free OSes in political borders of lax laws and lax enforcement.


16 posted on 06/01/2011 6:31:09 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
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To: Texas Fossil
If the “artist” had a medium whereby they could collect their fees they would no longer need the “Music Industry”.

I only buy speculative fiction from writers that I can read for free. If they write crap, I'm not paying for it. If it's good, I'll pony up for it. I try to deal with authors directly (some are set up for that). Same with music. I won't buy music except directly from the artist, after having a chance to hear it before I pay.

Not that in this economy I'm spending much money on books or music.

/johnny

17 posted on 06/01/2011 6:32:22 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: ShadowAce

I don’t think so either. And truth be told, I don’t miss it. I have a better library of TV and movies on my NAS than Netflix has anyway.


18 posted on 06/01/2011 6:34:17 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (Fascism is nothing but moderate communism.)
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To: Minus_The_Bear
What do you think of Unity?

Not entirely sure.

My kids were given a Ubuntu 10.10 box the other day, but a admin function wasn't working properly, so I upgraded the system to 11.04. Whether it's a function of Unity, or the upgrade process, or Ubuntu in general (I'm not overly familiar with Ubuntu), I just didn't like it. No easy way to get to a decent terminal, different users had different options to install applications, etc.

I'll probably wipe it off the system and put something else on it.

19 posted on 06/01/2011 6:36:52 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce
The purpose of "intellectual property rights" is for the government/corporate-complex to grant itself monopolies in-perpetuity.

If you keep extending copyrights every time Mickey Mouse is about to enter the public domain, that's the same thing as in-perpetuity.

Return it to 17 years and DRM is perfectly acceptable, but the government/corporate-complex will never accept that.

20 posted on 06/01/2011 6:37:21 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (If Sarah Palin really was unelectable, state-run media would be begging the GOP to nominate her.)
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