Latest Idea To Fix DRM: Give It A New Name
from the yeah,-that's-the-ticket dept
Since repeating the claim that DRM enables things for consumers isn't making it true, an HBO has a new idea: scrap the term DRM in favor of DCE. DCE, of course, standing for Digital Consumer Enablement. He says he doesn't want to use the term DRM any longer, not since consumers have come to understand that all it does it limit how they can playback and enjoy legally purchased media, but because it doesn't apparently express clearly just how wonderful the technology is. For instance, he says HBO is ready to roll out HD movies on demand, but "can't", because people might somehow copy them through the analog hole of component connections, which HBO or cable operators aren't allowed to disable. That's his example of DRM "enabling" a new service, and it's as weak as usual. A lack of suitable, wonderful, lovely DRM isn't holding up this service, but rather HBO's blind and dumb insistence on it, even though impracticality does a better job than technology of stopping HD movie piracy, and of, course, DRM doesn't stop piracy anyway.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:02am
If I hadnt read the new link I'd think you made "Digital Consumer Enablement" as a joke.
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Call it "Windscale" by BePositive on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:03am
nt
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by Anonymous Coward on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:46am
More like "Digital Consumer Entrapment".
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by ScaredOfTheMan on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:51am
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
and Digital Consumer Enablement is good for the consumer
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by David Canton on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:52am
Note sure who DRM enables - its certainly not the consumer.
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Whoa! by Lewis Salem on May 11th, 2007 @ 5:55am
Oh no! Well I'm just going to stop downloading episodes of the Sopranos right now! Zitter you rascal you!
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Ah I see.... by thecaptain on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:08am
Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before,"
Well that's certainly true. DRM..uhh..DCE I mean would certainly allow me to watch content with a ton of annoying issues added in, whereas before, I really had no reason to be annoyed, no hassles at all and I could watch what I wanted, when and where I wanted if I paid for it.
Thanks HBO!
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by Overcast on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:10am
Doublespeak~
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Re: by YouKnowNothing on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:13am
Hear, hear.
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DRM by Don Wood on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:15am
Talk is cheap. Stop buying and see if they see the error of their ways. My God! You people cry all the way to the store to buy their crap. Shit or get off the pot!
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by Frank on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:18am
I snorted my soda when I first read what "DCE" stood for.
Seriously, when can we start beating these morons with a sturdy tree branch?
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LOL!! by Sanguine Dream on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:41am
I know that LOL is borderline childish but come on. Digital Consumer Enablement? What marketing twerp came up with that nonsense?
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Pushing back by Dosquatch on May 11th, 2007 @ 6:53am
Some helpful soul over on /. suggested that the appropriate response is to give piracy the kinder, gentler name "Consumer Choice Enablement" - The content I choose, on the device I choose, for the price I choose.
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Re: Whoa! by Patryk J on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:00am
LMFAO! Hahaha!!
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Re: by Patryk J on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:02am
DCE double plus good!
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bah by AJ on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:07am
They sure know how to keep the hackers busy, hell, there creating an entire new market. Maybe we should thank them really, because if there stuff wasn't bogged down with DRM, I may actually pay for it instead of using a variety of methods to download it for free.
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The amazing by Shohat on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:07am
The amazing thing is that while everyone and their mother whines about "outdated models", the industry itself has never been more powerful, and never in the history of the world did artists made so much money.
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Re: DRM by JoRogan on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:16am
They "cry" as you call it because they are trying to spread the word. If that person did not buy HBO, HBO would still have its new DCE technology. Thats because the people that don't know anything about DRM like restrictions will still support HBO.
So whats the problem with said person for trying to spread the word?
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DCE actually stands for... by MikeVx on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:33am
Disabling Consumer Experience.
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Humm.. by Wyatt on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:47am
"The amazing thing is that while everyone and their mother whines about "outdated models", the industry itself has never been more powerful, and never in the history of the world did artists made so much money."
Hummm, the artists are being ripped off man.. I've heard things saying that they actually receive somewhere in the range of 10% or less of what is made from their art. The artists are not outspoken about DRM, it’s the companies that rip of the artists that do. This seems a little odd to me.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 11th, 2007 @ 7:52am
"Hummm, the artists are being ripped off man.. I've heard things saying that they actually receive somewhere in the range of 10% or less of what is made from their art."
Sadly, it's closer to 2-3%.
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I got it! by Amyloo on May 11th, 2007 @ 8:02am
Call it "The Patriot Act."
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What Happened to Consumer First? by T.J. on May 11th, 2007 @ 8:12am
The more and more DRM (errrr....DCE) gets pushed into our lives, the more society will push back. I for one 100% stopped supporting the MPAA, RIAA, and any other company that wants to limits my rights to do whatever I want with the thigns I purchase. Its so easy just to avoid the hassle of DRM altogether when you can just get your media from other, DRM free sources (although "illegaly"). Even my own mom, who doesn't even know what DRM stands for, started getting her movies from Blockbuster and the library and just copying them. Its just a matter of how much crap consumers will put up with before they just say f*** it, its worth the risk to not put up with the hassle these companies give you.
Why don't companies understand is that when people see HBO will be offering "free" HD movies on demand (providing you pay for HBO), more people will congregate towards its service and pay the associated fee. But when people see theres fine print and limits placed on the service, people will hesitate to pay for that.
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ROTFLMAO! Literally. by GoblinJuice on May 11th, 2007 @ 8:58am
I fell out of my chair, onto the floor, laughing when I read "Digital Consumer Enablement".
Literally.
It's sorta like calling a whore an "escort". ;-)
Hm.
So, every time a chic won't give me her number/addy/whatever... she's not RESTRICTING me, she's ENABLING... me to find another chic?
I get it!
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Another possible acronism by Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) on May 11th, 2007 @ 9:38am
Decapitated Consumer Expectations
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The real question.... by awm on May 11th, 2007 @ 10:26am
In my opinion, the real question is why does "the industry" think we are so stupid to believe this garbage they peddle?
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by Anonymous Poster on May 11th, 2007 @ 10:30am
I think ArsTechnica said it best: "A turd by any other name smells just as foul."
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My Two Cents on the Acronym by Beefcake on May 11th, 2007 @ 12:04pm
Digital Consumer Excrement
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Re: by Obsidian on May 11th, 2007 @ 12:20pm
"Sadly, it's closer to 2-3%."
Actually, I don't think it's even that much. According to the research I've done, the average musician for a major record label makes on average of 10 cents off of a $20.00 album. An Album costs $0.25 to produce, and the retailers make 3 or 4 dollars off of it. The rest of the money goes to the record label and the RI(p-off)AA. Artists are getting screwed over in ways most people can't even imagine.
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1984+23 by Hidden Force on May 11th, 2007 @ 1:07pm
George Orwell had nothing on this guy.
How doubleplus unsmart.
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OMG by Buzz on May 11th, 2007 @ 2:03pm
DCE = Dumb, Crappy, and Evil
Mike, where are you? I agree with another guy who commented on another Techdirt blog. I want to see you describe a society completely run by DRM and crappy copyright laws. You do an excellent job of describing a wonderful world free of silly restrictions; I'd like to hear about a dark world infested with dictators who feel they have the right to control how we receive our digital entertainment. Show us a world where the NFL actually CAN sue somebody for just talking about a football game's events.
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Don't worry! Re: OMG by Corporations of America on May 11th, 2007 @ 2:26pm
Just give us a few more years. We won't need Mike to show you our dark world.
Regards,
Corporations of America
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Re: DRM by Charles Griswold on May 13th, 2007 @ 6:34pm
I did. They didn't.
Not me. I don't buy crap. I find ways to entertain myself that don't involve giving money to the evil corporate conglomerates.
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Re: ROTFLMAO! Literally. by Charles Griswold on May 13th, 2007 @ 6:39pm
If I were a whore, I think I'd resent being compared to the DRM pushers.
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Re: The real question.... by Charles Griswold on May 13th, 2007 @ 6:42pm
Because . . . most people are? Or, if not stupid, then ignorant.
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Perfect! by thecaptain on May 14th, 2007 @ 6:28am
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070514
Perfect!
Yup, I'm all for "consumer choice enhancement"
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