Monitor based DRM in Longhorn

[Ailer]

From the article (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000143050582/) :
So what is OPM? The successor to Microsoft’s rarely-mentioned COPP (Certified Output Protection Protocol), PVP-OPM (Protected Video Path – Output Protection Management) is the first play in Microsoft’s game plan to ensure that protected content stays protected. PVP-OPM performs two main functions. First, it detects the capabilities of the display devices attached to the computer. For instance, does the DVI LCD monitor that you’re using have HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)? Second, it manages what, if anything, gets sent to those devices.
This pertains to gaming as I like to hook my computer up to my television to play games on the big screen.

[51|RandoM]

won't be a factor in games. People don't re-record game output for profitable digital distribution.

No, this will do things like preventing a pc monitor from taking in an HD vid stream, and then outputing it to a digital recording device. Longhorn will know the monitor is capable of doing that, and if you're not licensed to do that with a given piece of media, it'll spit a much lower quality version of it to your monitor.

End result? Monitor modchips in the form of custom EDIDs or somesuch. Your monitor will look like a monitor with exactly the same resolution profile, but without the digital output abilities, etc.

I swear they come up with this stuff just to waste everybody's time and money, since it just doesn't work in the wild.

[Varsity]

No no, this will ONLY affect videos protected with Microsoft DRM. It's going to kill off online movie download stores, but won't affect normal videos.

[TrackZero]

No no, this will ONLY affect videos protected with Microsoft DRM. It's going to kill off online movie download stores, but won't affect normal videos.

Exactly. If you don't buy into DRM video, it'll never affect you.

[Pigeon]

And it'll get cracked anyway

[AbeLincoln]

Tech companies build bigger and better shields, pirates and hackers build bigger and better swords. It is quite the classic arms race.

[Morratut]

Mmm intresting. I also reckon it will get hacked first week :D

[XxSATANxX]

Nope. Longhorn will not be released with this feature.

Also most of the stuff is easly overcome by running Linux or a Linux window.

DRM in media player? has anyone had any kind of an issue with DRM in media player?

OSX Steve Jobs is in the movie biz. Does OSX have any DRM? Nope.

The sky is in fact NOT FALLING.

[Heretic Machine]

Ya, I'm really not worried about this... As people have said, even if I were a movie pirate (which I'm not, there are few enough movies out there that I can buy everything I want to see) it'd be easy to overcome.

[mister_slim]

Microsoft is really focused on keeping computers just complicated enough the average person can't depend on them, aren't they?

[TrackZero]

Microsoft is really focused on keeping computers just complicated enough the average person can't depend on them, aren't they?

Well if you mean by 'Microsoft' the 'entire industry that's trying to implement DRM' and by 'complicated' you mean 'no difference to the average consumer', then yes, they are.

[mister_slim]

Well if you mean by 'Microsoft' the 'entire industry that's trying to implement DRM' and by 'complicated' you mean 'no difference to the average consumer', then yes, they are.
I suppose I mean 'the entire industry except Apple'. Oddly enough, most of the audio CD copy protection fails to function properly on Macs.

Though Windows games seem to be very well protected. :p

[petedog]

I suppose I mean 'the entire industry except Apple'. Oddly enough, most of the audio CD copy protection fails to function properly on Macs.

Though Windows games seem to be very well protected. :p

I suppose all those songs bought on iTunes have no DRM. No, wait, they do...

[MStiles]

This pertains to gaming as I like to hook my computer up to my television to play games on the big screen.

Geez, they say something on Slashdot and everyone automatically assumes they got all the facts right? WOW.

Many next-gen video formats will require a "secure" monitor output in order to get full fidelity. Expect it from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. This is what HDCP is for in TVs, and probably why the PS3 has HDMI ports (supports HDCP) and not DVI (technically can support HDCP, but usually does not).

All that's going on here is that Microsoft is going to support, on the OS level, the same sort of secure output. So when you play a Blu-ray movie on your PC or something in the future, or some downloaded DRM'd hi-def video that requires a secure output for full resolution, you'll actually GET full resolution from your PC. It's also so that Longhorn can serve as the basis of future versions of Media Center Edition and hook up to (and take advantage of) TVs with HDCP.

For all content without DRM that requries HDCP for full resolution - those stolen downloaded movies and TV shows and porn, games, DVDs, and damn near everything else - Longhorn will do just what you expect it to do. It'll play everything at full resolution, with your regular old non-secure monitor.

[Subbacultcha]

All I ask of hardware manufacturers: Make it as fast, big/small and reliable as possible. Let me choose how to put my machine together.


All I ask of Microsoft: Let me do what I want with my hardware.