“Square Enix is one of the biggest publishers of the modern gaming world with almost 30-years of experience and famous releases for every single existing gaming system,” Gog.com wrote in a statement. While it’s unclear what the extent of this newly minted partnership is, the companies have confirmed that Deus Ex Game of the Year Edition will be available for $9.99 and Hitman: Codename 47 has been given a $5.99 download price.

Square Enix has embraced the digital download medium as strongly as any other major publisher. The company also has a notable presence in the mobile space, with games like retro Final Fantasy adventures making their way to the App Store and the Android Market. Gog differentiates itself by offering DRM-free content and making its games available throughout the world for the same price. It is always nice to see major publishers supporting a consumer-friendly platform like this.

[via Gog.com forums]

The innovative system is the handiwork of Serious Sam 3 BFE‘s developers, Croatian company Croteam, and is already being praised for delivering DRM security without the usual headaches. Legitimate gamers – who have paid for the game – will never see the scorpion, only those who are playing pirated versions of it.

Our only disappointment is that the pink scorpion itself isn’t as ridiculous as it could’ve been. Nothing flags up to your friends the fact that you’re too cheap to buy a game like being attacked by a fluffy pink stuffed scorpion with a beaming face and killer claws that just won’t die.

[via EDGE]

Netflix already offers an Android app, but it’s only officially available for a select number of devices. The streaming media company has previously said that it’s an issue of security, with Android lacking a generic content protection system that will salve the concerns of license holders:

“The hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android. The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. Setting aside the debate around the value of content protection and DRM, they are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy” Netflix, Nov 2010

More recently, Netflix has been working to individually certify devices, but it’s a time-consuming process. That frustration has led to users exploring unofficial methods to get the app onto their handset.

With this blanket certification for TI’s OMAP4, however, there’s the prospect of more speedy approval for new devices. Motorola already uses TI chips, and the upcoming DROID 3 is expected to sport the OMAP4430. For the moment, though, TI isn’t saying which devices will come preloaded with the Netflix app, but only that the first examples will land “in the near future.”

[via Android Community]

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has rallied against the Nintendo 3DS saying that its Terms of Service are ridiculous, basically allowing Nintendo to freely update and even brick your device at anytime, collect your personal data, and own anything that you put into the 3DS, including your personal photos.

“The Nintendo 3DS comes with Terms of Service (TOS) that should not be accepted,” wrote FSF campaign manager Joshua Gay in a recent blog post. FSF points out that Nintendo collects not only any personal data such as age, gender, geographic area, game play data, online status, serial and device IDs, cookies, Friend Codes, IP addresses, and more, but they also collect “User Content.” This user content is defined as all “comments, messages, images, photos, movies, information, data, and other content.”

But Nintendo doesn’t stop there. They also say that 3DS users “grant to Nintendo a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display your User Content in whole or in part and to incorporate your User Content in other works, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, including for promotional or marketing purposes.”

The post is quite lengthy, but perhaps John from FSF best summarizes it with the following:

From reading the Nintendo 3DS Terms of Service, one could be forgiven for thinking that Nintendo is exiting the video game console business and entering the brick-making business.

The 3DS Terms are a perfect storm of 1) Updates will happen automatically without your specific permission any time the device connects to wifi 2) The device will constantly try to connect to wifi 3) Updates will specifically disable devices found to have modified software or unauthorized peripherals.

On top of that, Nintendo claims a license to photos and other user-generated material on the devices — and those things are also automatically uploaded, along with user location data gleaned from wifi network proximity.

DRM prevents users from disabling any of these antifeatures, which is why DefectiveByDesign.org has taken an interest, encouraging people to send cardboard bricks to Nintendo. In the wake of all the Sony PS3 news, is this really the direction Nintendo wants to take things?

FSF started the campaign just last week and has been asking supporters to send cardboard bricks to Nintendo as a way to protest. You can do this on your own or via the FSF page setup for bricking Nintendo where $10 will send one brick, while $45 will lot you five bricks.

[via BoingBoing]

Silverlight is Microsoft’s answer to Adobe’s Flash. Moonlight is Novell’s Open Source implementation of Silverlight, it’s available as a plugin for both Firefox and Chrome. You can pick up Moonlight from Novell’s mono-project website. The problem is, Moonlight doesn’t really work, as of course Microsoft won’t release the workings for the PlayReady DRM component into the open source community. Why does this matter for Netflix? The instant-streaming application isn’t Flash based like Hulu, Youtube, vimeo and pretty much every single other streaming site out there. Netflix’s service is implemented using Silverlight, leaving it currently out of the hands of the Linux desktop user. All of these services work wonderfully in both Chrome and Firefox on my system. Needless to say, I canceled my service the next day.

[via Tech Republic]

Boxee doesn’t have a timeline for the release, but according to marketing lead Andrew Kippen the company is meeting with Netflix on Wednesday and hopes to have “a better idea” at the end of this week about what’s happening. The issue appears to center around DRM, and how secure Netflix believes its feeds are when they reach the Linux-based Boxee Box.

“At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. I am not going to pity the owners of iDevices, and not even the MobileVLC developers who doubtless wasted a lot of their time. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone.” Rémi Denis-Courmont, VideoLAN

The difference in the two policies was flagged up to Apple by Rémi Denis-Courmont, one of the original developers of VLC. The GNU license would allow Apple to distribute the iOS version of VLC, but not to apply DRM to it; as has been the case with previous GNU-licensed apps, Apple has chosen to pull it from the App Store rather than amend their DRM policy.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

The developer behind the tool is named Tobias, and he believes that he has figured out a potential solution to the situation. However, it’s not a permanent fix, and it’s not completely fool-proof, either. He points out that the problem with the DRM that Microsoft uses for the apps within the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace is the fact that Microsoft decided to use the same DRM for every application in the Marketplace. Meaning, there’s no extra steps for a tool or program to crack individual DRM with each app. It’s all the same, so an automated tool works too well.

Tobias says, “The code and the guides I gave you here will not stop piracy. Anyone with the corresponding skills can still startup reflector, go through your code, remove any checkes, remove DRM and install it on a device. YES, but it got a lot more difficult to do it in an automated fashion. So, there might be one or two who can still break your security measures by hand but the masses won’t be able as there is no generic tool available.”

It’s not a permanent fix by any means, but it may be a stop-gap until Microsoft can step forward and make some kind of fix that works for all apps, all the time.

[via WPCentral]

Fortunately, though, the program that is being used to do so is not known to the general public. In point of fact, the “white hat” developer that created it is just showing it as a proof of concept. If the program were to make it out into the world, then it would be possible for some people out there to strip the DRM from applications available in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, and then download them for free.

As of the time of this writing, Microsoft hasn’t made an official comment regarding the security hole. WPCentral has been in contact with Brandon Watson from Microsoft, but so far they have not heard back from him. The video demonstrating the proof of concept program making short work of DRM for the Windows Phone 7 applications can be viewed below.

[via WPCentral]

The previous T&Cs read “Movies or TV shows rented using your Apple TV, iPhone 4, or iPod touch (4th generation) may not be moved. Movies rented using your iPad may not be moved,” differentiating between the iPad and the other iOS devices.  That has now been updated to “Content rented using your Apple TV, iPad, iPhone 4, or iPod touch (4th generation) may not be moved.”

If, however, you purchase a rental on your computer, you can then transfer it to an iOS device for portable viewing.  Attempts to go in the other direction will see the content wiped after a restore.  There’s also speculation that the change in terminology is to encompass games and other titles, as the App Store and iTunes extend their scope.

“Later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable – this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.” Amazon Kindle team

As is also the case with B&N, Kindle books can only be loaned once; it’s unclear from Amazon’s announcement whether that’s once per person or once in the lifetime of the ebook.  Meanwhile the company also confirmed that newspapers and magazines will be added to the Kindle apps rather than limited to the Kindle hardware itself.

That expertise has prompted bombastic Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster to predict that Apple will use the Rovi IP in their oft-rumored HDTV.  ”We believe this announcement is further evidence that Apple is developing live TV and DVR features for its Apple TV product,” he wrote in an investors note “and will likely launch an all-in-one Apple Television in the next 2-4 years.”  The technology will first show up in Apple TV, he suggests:

“Apple would be clear to add live TV, DVR, and guidance features to its Apple TV product, which we believe is a critical step towards an all-in-one Apple Television” Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray

An Apple HDTV has split opinion among press and analysts, with some – like our own columnist Philip Berne believing it is an inevitability – while others doubt the company would move into what’s a relatively competitive, low-margin sector.

[via MacRumors]

HDCP is the encryption and handshaking technology Intel developed to secure the different components used with digital media hardware, to prevent like-for-like copies being made.  It relies on each piece of hardware being HDCP compliant (and thus not allowing for duplication or non-encrypted distribution); if one component isn’t, the whole chain is shut down.

Intel don’t expect a software product to use the “forty times forty element matrix of fifty-six bit hexadecimal numbers” the master key comprises, though they’re not counting it now.  The company says it has contacted licensees of the HDPC technology, but doesn’t necessarily consider the copyright protection to be entirely undermined.

[via Slashdot]

“When one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses” Copyright Office

Cellphone unlocking is also exempt from the DMCA, with the 2006 rule defining it as such being renewed; despite that, unlockers have been successfully sued.  ”The Copyright Office recognizes that the primary purpose of the locks on cell phones is to bind customers to their existing networks, rather than to protect copyrights” says Jennifer Granick, EFF’s Civil Liberties Director.

The full record of the rulemaking is here, while the EFF’s process is described in detail here.

Press Release:

Librarian of Congress Announces DMCA Section 1201 Rules for
Exemptions Regarding Circumvention of Access-Control Technologies

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today released the following statement:

Section 1201(a)(1) of the copyright law requires that every three years I am to determine whether there are any classes of works that will be subject to exemptions from the statute’s prohibition against circumvention of technology that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. I make that determination at the conclusion of a rulemaking proceeding conducted by the Register of Copyrights, who makes a recommendation to me. Based on that proceeding and the Register’s recommendation, I am to determine whether the prohibition on circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works is causing or is likely to cause adverse effects on the ability of users of any particular classes of copyrighted works to make noninfringing uses of those works. The classes of works that I designated in the previous proceeding expire at the end of the current proceeding unless proponents of a class prove their case once again.

This is the fourth time that I have made such a determination. Today I have designated six classes of works. Persons who circumvent access controls in order to engage in noninfringing uses of works in these six classes will not be subject to the statutory prohibition against circumvention.

As I have noted at the conclusion of past proceedings, it is important to understand the purposes of this rulemaking, as stated in the law, and the role I have in it. This is not a broad evaluation of the successes or failures of the DMCA. The purpose of the proceeding is to determine whether current technologies that control access to copyrighted works are diminishing the ability of individuals to use works in lawful, noninfringing ways. The DMCA does not forbid the act of circumventing copy controls, and therefore this rulemaking proceeding is not about technologies that control copying. Nor is this rulemaking about the ability to make or distribute products or services used for purposes of circumventing access controls, which are governed by a different part of section 1201.

In this rulemaking, the Register of Copyrights received 19 initial submissions proposing 25 classes of works, many of them duplicative in subject matter, which the Register organized into 11 groups and published in a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments on the proposed classes. Fifty-six comments were submitted. Thirty-seven witnesses appeared during the four days of public hearings in Washington and in Palo Alto, California. Transcripts of the hearings, copies of all of the comments, and copies of other information received by the Register have been posted on the Copyright Office’s website.

The six classes of works are:

(1) Motion pictures on DVDs that are lawfully made and acquired and that are protected by the Content Scrambling System when circumvention is accomplished solely in order to accomplish the incorporation of short portions of motion pictures into new works for the purpose of criticism or comment, and where the person engaging in circumvention believes and has reasonable grounds for believing that circumvention is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the use in the following instances:
(i) Educational uses by college and university professors and by college and university film and media studies students;
(ii) Documentary filmmaking;
(iii) Noncommercial videos

(2) Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.

(3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.

(4) Video games accessible on personal computers and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully obtained works, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing for, investigating, or correcting security flaws or vulnerabilities, if:
(i) The information derived from the security testing is used primarily to promote the security of the owner or operator of a computer, computer system, or computer network; and
(ii) The information derived from the security testing is used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate copyright infringement or a violation of applicable law.

(5) Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete. A dongle shall be considered obsolete if it is no longer manufactured or if a replacement or repair is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace; and

(6) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format.

All of these classes of works find their origins in classes that I designated at the conclusion of the previous rulemaking proceeding, but some of the classes have changed due to differences in the facts and arguments presented in the current proceeding. For example, in the previous proceeding I designated a class that enable film and media studies professors to engage in the noninfringing activity of making compilations of film clips for classroom instruction. In the current proceeding, the record supported an expansion of that class to enable the incorporation of short portions of motion pictures into documentary films and noncommercial videos for the purpose of criticism or comment, when the person engaging in circumvention reasonably believes that it is necessary to fulfill that purpose. I agree with the Register that the record demonstrates that it is sometimes necessary to circumvent access controls on DVDs in order to make these kinds of fair uses of short portions of motion pictures.

UltraViolet locks content not to individual devices or platforms, but to the user; that way, you should be able to access content – which will initially include TV episodes and movies, but should eventually spread to support music – on any UltraViolet compliant device, whether it be a PMP, a PC or a set-top box.  When new content is bought, the retail account is linked to their UltraViolet account and the rights to view it will be spread to any registered hardware.

It’s not just digital content, either; UltraViolet promises to give access to digital versions of movies that you’ve bought on DVD or Blu-ray – that way, you could access a streaming version while you’re staying away from home, rather than have to carry the physical media with you or rip it yourself.  The DECE promise we’ll start seeing the first UltraViolet logos show up on hardware later in 2010.

[via Huffington Post]

Seven handsets will be on offer initially – the Nokia X6 (in 32GB and 16GB form), Nokia 5230, Nokia 5330, Nokia 5800w, Nokia 6700s, Nokia E52 and Nokia E72i – with prices expected to kick off at the equivalent of €140 ($187) not including local taxes, subsidies and subscriptions.  Content from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music is promised, together with various local independent labels that Nokia have done deals with.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Nokia purposefully loosen their grip on a feature to try to leverage their brand; the company made Ovi Maps Navigation free earlier in the year, and has been rolling the software out to new handsets ever since.  Whether the DRM-free Comes With Music ever arrives in sharing-obsessed Europe and North America remains to be seen.

Press Release:

UNLIMITED MUSIC DOWNLOAD SERVICE REDEFINES CHINA’S MOBILE DIGITAL MUSIC LANDSCAPE

NOKIA’S GLOBAL MOBILE MUSIC LEADERSHIP UNDERLINED WITH LAUNCH OF DRM-FREE COMES WITH MUSIC SERVICE FOR MILLIONS OF CONSUMERS IN CHINA

Beijing, China & Espoo, Finland, April 8, 2010: Nokia today further increases its global footprint in the mobile music space with the launch of its ground breaking service, ‘Comes With Music’, in China. This announcement sees China’s number one mobile brand drive further innovation in the music space by introducing the first device and PC-based free, legal, DRM-free music download service in the world’s biggest mobile market.
The launch of Nokia’s unlimited music download offering in China adds further momentum to Nokia’s leadership in the world’s highest growth markets including Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. The forthcoming launch of the service in India will add significant scale and differentiation in another critical market.
In a local partnership with Huadong Feitian, the China launch further showcases Nokia’s expertise in delivering music services, tailored to local consumer needs. The service delivers a rich catalogue of local artists, unique features developed for the Chinese market, and a seamless, high quality music download experience.
Comes With Music will be available to consumers across China via a broad range of devices and through an extensive nationwide retail network. At launch, consumers can get unlimited music downloads with the purchase of any one of eight devices, to include the Nokia X6 32GB and Nokia X6 16GB, Nokia 5230, Nokia 5330, Nokia 5800w, Nokia 6700s, Nokia E52 and Nokia E72i. Entry level prices will start from EUR 140, excluding local taxes and subsidies.
“This launch delivers a truly mass market music offering from China’s most loved mobile brand. Our broad range of Comes With Music enabled devices and the high quality, DRM-free catalogue form the perfect legal download recipe for the world’s biggest market for mobile phones,” says Liz Schimel, Global Head of Music, Nokia. “Globally, we have expanded the reach of our music service to 30 markets in just 18 months. We are excited to see consumers building collections of the music they love through our service, and we are firmly on the path to delivering legal digital music to all parts of the world. It’s fantastic to have so many local and global labels partner with us to deliver this service in China. The industry came together to support us in innovating the mobile music business model in this unique market.”
The service will include catalogues from the major global labels Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Music, and a host of local independent labels, including Huayi Brothers Media Group and Taihe Rye.
“China is a massive opportunity and a challenging market to address. Nokia is the undisputed dominant mobile player within China – there is no better partner with whom to develop the market in new, imaginative ways and make the most of its potential,” says Rob Wells, Senior Vice President, Digital, Universal Music Group International.

“We are delighted to be expanding our partnership with Nokia to bring Comes With Music to the Chinese market,” says Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business, U.S. Sales and Corporate Strategy, Sony Music Entertainment. “We think there is great potential to convert China’s massive audience of music fans into consumers of legitimate digital music with compelling services that are easy-to-use and broadly available across a wide array of mobile devices.”
Song Ke, CEO, Taihe Rye, says; “We are very excited by the opportunity to have our music catalogue not only available in China, but to the rest of the world. Lovers of Chinese music can now download content from Comes With Music, broadening the market for our artists globally.”
“Establishing legitimate online music services in emerging markets is imperative for the music industry’s ongoing effort to remake itself,” says Mike McGuire, Research Vice President, Media IAS Team, Gartner. “By getting the Comes with Music service up and running in China, and with India coming on shortly, Nokia is taking important steps in continuing to expand its Comes With Music ecosystem. It’s also playing an important role in developing compelling alternatives for both artists and labels, and consumers.”

About Nokia

The Comes With Music service will be known locally within China as Yue Sui Xiang.

At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device – from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia’s NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.

So, voracious reader and obsessive-compulsive about book damage: ebooks, with instant Kindle download and no pesky spine to worry about, should be the ideal solution, right? As you probably guessed was coming, things haven’t quite worked out that way.

Part of the problem is the limitation of one ebook vendor. If I’m going to give in to an urge for trashy fiction then yes, a penny copy of a used (and often battered) Amazon Marketplace novel sates that need; however Marketplace is also good for finding brand-new (or as-new) titles retailing for half the cover price. Right now, though, there’s no easy way for me to buy the ebooks that someone else has finished with, there’s no Buy It Used option underneath the official Amazon offering. Similarly, I can’t decide to take a chance on a new author (and no, samples aren’t quite the same thing) with the reassurance – like I’d have from a physical book – that I could always resell it afterwards (and, thanks to my obsessive reading methods, legitimately advertise it as-new to boot).

As has been argued with music and video content, once you go digital there are copyright issues that didn’t exist so readily in the physical domain. It’s an even bigger gulf between books and ebooks: if you wanted to sneakily digitize your physical copy, you basically had to strip the binding and scan every page – then run OCR if you want search functionality. Yes, some students did it with their textbooks (more, it seems, to avoid having to carry the heavy original than for illicit sharing), but on balance it wasn’t really worth the effort for most fiction. Amazon – and others – are having to half hand-hold, half berate publishers who (as shown by last year’s news that some big names would be purposefully delaying ebook releases in an attempt to preserve hardback sales) don’t know whether to embrace or kick against the new technology. To do so they’re generally resorting to DRM which limits the number of ereaders content can be simultaneously read on, and the number of “owners” who can access it.

Ironically, that DRM would probably make it easier for Amazon to set up a used ebook Marketplace; after all, they control what devices you can read your purchased content on, how many times you can authorize it (if, say, you buy a second Kindle, or decide to use the desktop or iPhone Kindle apps) and even, as we saw in 2009 when digital copies of 1984 were remotely deleted, whether customers can have it on their ereader at all. It might take a little work to automate the DRM management – right now readers are directed to contact customer services if they run out of ebook authorization “attempts”, which presumably means it’s done on a manual, case-by-case basis – but with no more obvious overheads than their current third-party Marketplace (and Amazon taking a cut from every sale, naturally) it’s hard to see it as anything other than a win. And, since it’s so much easier for Amazon to keep track of what titles are selling and that they’re authentic copies – they’re most likely shuttling through Whispernet – maybe they could sweeten the deal with the anxious publishers by promising them a slice of the pie too, something right now they don’t get from physical second-hand book sales.

In fact, “second hand” ebooks make far more sense than the used music market ever did, since readers are more likely to want a novel once then have no more pressing use for it, while music content is more likely to be returned to time after time. If we have to have DRM – and there are high-profile authors like Cory Doctorow who insist we don’t – then let’s have the obvious upside for the consumer, too: I’ll feel happier about rights-management if it means fewer pirated copies of titles that might push down the second-hand value of ebooks I’ve bought. As far as I can see, that’s DRM working in my favor as well as that of the original rights-holders.

CES 2010 saw ereaders – along with tablets, which are likely to boast similar ebook handling – proliferate, and there’s plenty more hardware and software advances to come in the next twelve months. Pixel Qi and Qualcomm’s mirasol displays are just two of the low-power, video capable options hoping to grab some of E Ink’s e-paper market, with each firm promising shipping products sometime this year. There’s talk that Amazon are already eying mirasol for the next-gen Kindle, while tablets and netbooks with Pixel Qi screens would – with heavy use of the monochromatic mode – be able to further close the battery gap between the longevity of a dedicated ereader and what current-gen netbooks can manage.

In contrast with the hardware horizon, then, the ebook software market looks surprisingly immature. That could be partly down to the main players trying, for the most part, to use the buy-it-keep-it music DRM model for a segment it doesn’t quite match up to. Whatever the reason, it may take a shift in the attitude toward ownership rights – as distinct from copyright rights – before ebooks convince mainstream readers to put down their paperbacks.

While Freescale obviously sent me the Kindle to promote the fact that it’s their chipset inside (I only knew it was Amazon’s device when I opened the package – all they’d initially asked was whether they could send me an ereader from one of their hardware partners to look at), they didn’t ask me to review it, promote it or generally look upon Freescale (or Amazon) any more positively. Any ebooks I’ve bought have been at my own expense.

InstaPort is Silicon Image’s attempt to speed up switching between different HDMI inputs, and is slowly gaining traction as manufacturers attempt to avoid frustrating remote control delays.  What tinkerer “GRitchie” discovered was that his new TV had a simple 4-to-1 HDMI hub that took four HDMI peripherals (e.g. DVD player, Blu-ray, PS3) and linked them to a single HDMI connection on the main control board.  Soldering eight wires onto the switching chip output and to a cut-up HDMI cable meant he had an unencrypted output stripped of any HDCP.

It’s unclear whether this is the result of a lazy cost-cutting exercise by one TV manufacturer – the brand of set isn’t mentioned – or a side-effect of InstaPort itself.  If the latter, that could lead to all manner of confusion as a quoted 9 out of 10 TV manufacturers are considering the technology for their next-gen sets.  Now we don’t recommend opening up your TV and soldering things directly to it, but we are interested to see how this story pans out.

[via Hack a Day]

Full policy after the cut

Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless (a) the user consents to such deletion or modification; (b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment); (c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or (d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).

The new policy leaves Amazon with the capability – and agreed right – to remove consumers’ ebooks from their Kindle devices (and the iPod touch/iPhone client), though only in certain circumstances.  Those include failure of payment (or if a refund is sought), “judicial or regulatory order” or should the ebook have harmful code or otherwise threaten either the device or the Whispernet network.

1984 was removed – complete with student Gawronski’s exam notes – after it was revealed to have been added to the Amazon catalog without the permission of the rights-holder.  The new policy means that Amazon will no longer be able to remove from a user’s device such an erroneously-published ebook already purchased, at least not off its own back, but instead the rights-holders will have to seek a court injunction ordering the retailer to do so.

Over time, Microsoft tried a few approaches with MCE – from extenders to allow you to view content on other TVs in the home over your network, to creating extender technology for Xbox (which is already hooked up to a TV set) – as well as working with a host of OEMs to create “living room” form factor home theater PCs. The result of these efforts was less than a stellar success and few vendors actively build home theater PCs; these days, if a consumer uses media center they’re either an enthusiast or they’ve tripped over it by mistake trying to do something else. That’s a shame, as MCE has evolved over time to become a great technology, one that few people even know exist.

With the advent of Windows 7, Media Center has gone through another refresh and the technology is really very good. I’m beginning to wonder if most consumers will ever realize the value of integration between the PC and the TV if they don’t know enough about what’s possible. We know consumers are interested in getting the content on their PCs over to their TVs but that’s another story.

The fact is, Media Center in Windows 7 should be a hit. For example, one of the biggest problems with most consumer DVRs is that the content is locked. Want to watch in another room? Sorry, that will cost extra please. Want to take that TV show and watch it on your laptop? Sorry, not happening. Want to archive that show to something other than analog VHS tape? Sorry, can’t do that. Even TiVo, which allows users to move some content from their TiVo box to the PC, does so at low resolution and over the home network, making for a slow and often frustrating process.

By contrast, MCE records shows, transcodes them in the background and makes it relatively easy to stream the content to a device like the Xbox 360, copy to a laptop for later viewing and even transfer to Windows phones and Zune media players. In addition, unlike most DVRs on the market, there’s no additional monthly fee to use the technology and no need to purchase copies of TV shows that will only be viewed once.

The promise of MCE was that ALL my media could live on one box and I could then do what I wished with that content, moving it from screen to screen and device to device. MCE in Windows 7 delivers on a lot of that vision. Microsoft talks a lot these days about three screens and a cloud. MCE is actually a foundation technology that enables much of that “three screen” interaction to happen. MCE owners can stream content via WiFi to any computer in their home. They can get on a plane and take the latest episodes of their favorite TV shows on their laptops, phones or media players, or burn a copy of that old movie and keep the disc as an archive.

Is MCE perfect? No, not even in Windows 7. Is it the right product for the masses? Quite possibly, yes. Microsoft needs to think who the market for this version of MCE is, work to find ways of hiding more of the Windows UI for a total 10 foot experience and perhaps, in the future, even think of unbundling MCE from the rest of Windows.

For now, MCE is a compelling technology that appeals mostly to enthusiasts who are looking for more functionality than current DVR solutions can give them. It could be so much more.

The problem arose when Dan attempted to download ebooks he’d already purchased through Amazon onto his iPod touch, which had just been upgraded to iPhone OS 3.0.  While some of the titles would cooperate, others refused; customer services first told him that each book has a limit to the number of times it can be downloaded, and that this limit was both undisclosed (sometimes even to Amazon customer care themselves) and arbitrarily set by publishers.

In trying to corroborate this, and find out how to track the download limits, Dan was then told several different versions of this, until reaching what’s believed to be the bottom line.  Apparently, books can be downloaded an unlimited number of times, though only active on a limited number of devices (e.g. Kindle, Kindle 2, Kindle DX or the Kindle Reader app on an iPhone or iPod touch).  That number is usually five or six, but the publisher can apparently change it to as little as one.  Swapping an older device for a new one doesn’t automatically release the license, so you’ll need to contact customer services to have them do it for you.

Complicated enough, but at least one Amazon ebook publisher has spoken up claiming that nowhere in their distribution agreement or control panel is there the ability to change download settings in the way the retailer describes.

The argument from the Author’s Guild is that, by artificially reading out any ebook, Amazon are impinging on audio-book rights that the copyright for Kindle texts does not cover.  Amazon, meanwhile, maintain that it is a legal use of the texts, but implemented the kill-switch nonetheless to make rightsholders ”more comfortable”.

As Slashdot raises, Amazon has not made clear what other flags might be present in its Kindle format.  While currently the Kindle DRM is known to prevent loading of the file onto non-Amazon ebook reader devices, and now to allow remote switch-off of TTS; it’s possible that it could also only allow certain texts to be read once, or in certain orders.

[via Slashdot]

Based in New York, SpiralFrog is a music service that’s supported by advertising. And since web advertising revenue has gone down significantly in the past several months, it would make sense that their operations would be hampered by the economic climate.

SpiralFrog worked by providing music downloads for free to the public while bringing in revenue through ads. And while the drop in advertising surely took its toll, the DRM-protected music itself was likely a problem, as it could only be played on the computer with which you downloaded the files. So now, SpiralFrog is no more. It was nice knowing you!

[via The Washington Post]

V-moda described the alternative to the in-line controller having the chip as being a separate remote circuit, demanding a second jack for the controls to plug into.  This would obviously have prevented Apple’s attempts to shrink the iPod shuffle 4GB.

According to Apple, the “control chip” will be legitimately offered by companies that have signed up to its Made for iPod program, which assures customers that third-party products meet Apple’s own specifications.  It also demands a fee from the manufacturers, which is inevitably passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.  Contrary to original speculation, Apple have not used any sort of encryption or DRM in the control chip, and so third-party companies looking to circumnavigate the Made for iPod program could realistically reverse-engineer the chip’s mechanism and release cheaper products with Apple’s blessing.

Of course, the end result remains the same: until third-parties can get their headphones and adapter cables to market, iPod shuffle 4GB buyers are stuck using Apple’s bundled headphones.

As has already been noted, existing third-party headphones are useless with the new iPod shuffle as they lack the control pod; a number of companies – such as Scosche – have announced that they’re working on suitably outfitted aftermarket sets, but they won’t be available for a while yet.  According to iLounge, though, the situation is more complex than just a box of buttons; they claimed that Apple have fitted an “authentication chip” to the shuffle, which the company will use to extract licensing fees from accessory manufacturers and potentially use the DMCA to wipe out anybody refusing to pay.

That led Boing Boing to go in search of the mysterious chip, and sure enough they found it buried under the control buttons.  Right now there’s no definitive confirmation that it’s an authentication chip – nor whether it uses encrypted signals, which it would have to in order for Apple to take the DMCA route – but it raises the possibility that future iPod and iPhone models will have an even more draconian accessory licensing policy.  Apple themselves are yet to comment.

While companies have a right to protect their property from piracy, oftentimes these DRM measures cut into a buyer’s activities, restricting what they can and can’t do with a piece of software they bought.

This version of SecuROM won’t be quite as harsh as those initially included with Spore, which limited your installations to three times. Instead, in Grand Theft Auto IV, you will need to register your copy when installing it and the disc itself will need to be in the drive in order for you to play it. You can install it any number of times you’d like besides that. And though DRM is annoying, this is at least not as annoying.

The problem comes to light when using one of Apple’s own Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapters, for instance in connecting a MacBook or MacBook Pro to a projector which lacks the still-unusual socket.  Certain movies bought from the iTunes store have been wrapped in HDCP – including Hellboy 2, Star Wars: Clone Wars and some older titles such as Shawshank Redemption – and as such refuse to play.

Of course, as the new MacBooks lack any other video output aside from Mini DisplayPort, the only way to view content on a bigger screen is to upgrade said-screen or projector.  Apple are yet to comment on the situation.

Not anymore, the online version of Red Envelop has adopted Microsoft latest generation of Silverlight to enable protected content playback on Windows and Apple machines.

According to Netflix, the support on OSX is limited to Intel-based machines using Firefox only and initial roll out of the cross-browser Silverlight is only available for a small percentage of customers, but the service will be expanded to all subscribers by the end of the year.

Customers are still advised to circumnavigate the DRM by make CD backups of the tracks and then re-rip them as unprotected files.  There’s no word on how long Walmart will maintain the servers beyond “the present time”.

Yahoo! Music caused similar controversy at the end of July 2008, when they announced they would be shutting down the DRM servers used in their online store.  Coupons for downloading the equivalent DRM-free MP3 tracks were issued to pacify customers.

Walmart release:

NOTE: This is a follow-up to our email titled “Important Information About Your Digital Music Purchases” from 9/26/08.

Based on feedback from our customers, we have decided to maintain our digital rights management (DRM) servers for the present time. What this means to you is that our existing service continues and there is no action required on your part. Our customer service team will continue to assist with DRM issues for protected windows media audio (WMA) files purchased from Walmart.com.

While our customer support team is available to assist you with any issues, we continue to recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you insure access to them from any personal computer at any time in the future.

We appreciate your support and patience as we work to provide the best service possible to you. As we move forward with our 100% MP3 store, we’ll continue to update you with key decisions regarding our service and your account via email.

Thank you for using Walmart MP3 Music Downloads.

The Walmart Digital Music Team

The movie studios and the DVD Copy Control Association are expected to countersue by the end of the day. However, RealNetworks feels as though they have a solid case here, primarily because of a decision made in 2007 regarding the Kaleidescape software, which did not break a DVD’s encryption, either.

In fact, the RealDVD software actually adds a second layer of DRM when copying a DVD to your computer’s hard drive. Even so, the Motion Picture Association of America will sue today as well because they believe the software allows illegal copying of DVDs and “violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” A request for a restraining order is expected.

[via Crave at CNET]

The company also claimed it would offer full refunds for users who “have serious problems with this arrangement”, although it is unclear how this is established.  Coupons will be issued “on request”, and as such anybody affected by the issue should contact Yahoo! via the FAQ page.

Yahoo! Music’s DRM servers will go offline on September 30th.  The compensation only affects users who paid for individual downloads; subscription users will be transferred to RealNetworks Inc.’s Rhapsody subscription system.

[via Engadget]

“You’ll be compensated for whatever you paid for the music.  We haven’t said exactly what we will do, but we will take care of our customers” Carrie Davis, spokesperson, Yahoo! Music

A new FAQ page gives customers the opportunity to contact Yahoo! Music and make their case.  Davis suggested that possible solutions could include refunds on affected tracks or users being given DRM-free MP3 files instead.  Only those who bought tracks outright would be eligible; subscribers, who pay a monthly fee for access to multiple tracks, will instead be transferred to the Rhapsody service “at a similar price”.

Yahoo! Music will cease selling tracks on September 30th 2008.  At the same time, their DRM licencing servers will go offline meaning that, while users who have bought tracks will be able to continue playing them on the same computer or device, they would be unable to transfer them to a new machine.

[via Distorted Loop]

“After the Store closes, Yahoo! will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for music purchased from Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and Yahoo! will no longer be able to authorize song playback on additional computers.
After September 30, 2008, you will not be able to transfer songs to unauthorized computers or re-license these songs after changing operating systems. Please note that your purchased tracks will generally continue to play on your existing authorized computers unless there is a change to the computer’s operating system” Yahoo! Music email

In the biggest slap of irony of all, Yahoo! Music then suggests that anybody concerned about losing access to the tracks they downloaded should burn them to a CD and then rip them back onto the computer:

“For any user who purchased tracks through Yahoo! Music Unlimited, we highly recommend that you back up the purchased tracks to an audio CD before the closing of the Store on September 30, 2008. Backing up your music to an audio CD will allow you to copy the music back to your computer again if the license keys for your original music files cannot be retrieved.” Yahoo! Music email

It’s looking increasingly tough for companies to justify their DRM systems, as industry heavyweights (including not just Yahoo! but Microsoft – in the shape of the MSN Store – and Google) tried and failed what only Apple have really succeeded with. 

[via Guardian]

Apparently EA has listened to our cries and given into our demands. They won’t be shipping Mass Effect with the horrible DRM which was said to dial back to their servers every 10 days to make sure that you’re still not a pirate.

Unfortunately there will still likely be some sort of DRM for the game, but I think we should happily take this victory. Rest assured though, the war on DRM is far from over.

[via CrunchGear]

However, it’s still really, really hard to swallow a $2999 price tag on anything with a 500GB HDD inside. On the upside it does support all types of DRM, supports quick sync with Windows Media Player, and supports non-compressed files as well as WMA, MP3, and WAV.

There is a USB port on the back so you can connect the server to your computer, there is also an Ethernet connection, as I said, three audio outputs, but not in HDMI or digital audio out, just the standard RCA jacks, it also has a capacitive touch interface on the front next to its OLED screen and it of course works with all of NuVo’s other products. Sadly though, there still isn’t a single feature that screams out to me this is worth the asking price, however, if you are already using any of NuVo’s other products, the interoperability is sufficient enough to tip me.

[via NuVo]

Whether it aims for USB 2.0 or the coming 3.0 platform, it would be a direct challenge to the IEEE group for DRM. Up until now, Firewire has been the standard for interconnecting media device’s Digital Transmission Content Protection, aka DTCP or 5C protection that widely used in Cable HD DVR and DVHS recorders. We aren’t sure how far the new USB DRM scheme will end up but hope it didn’t just stop at mobile devices. On the wireless side, Kleer Corp announces wireless SD video transfer up to 1.5 Mbits/s on its proprietary wireless audio technology used in wireless ear buds for MP3 Player.

USB, Kleer plug into digital TVs [via EEtimes]

In the story, someone else steals his power essentially ridding himself of his own existence. Well one of his fellow evil doers wasn’t to keen on Klaw’s absence so he did something about it.

He hopped on the internet and used BitTorrent to download some sound samples to bring Klaw back to life. Take that RIAA and MPAA, even comic book characters know how to circumvent copyrights. Sadly for the comic book creators, this hasn’t lead to an increase in revenue from all of the BitTorrent users running out and buying it, instead they are all just downloading it, without paying for it, go figure.

BitTorrent Brings Evil Villain Back from the Dead [via TorrentFreak]

So for all of you out there with a lot of poor-quality Zune Marketplace tracks that you paid a few billion Microsoft Points for, it’s time to upgrade your software and complete the removal process. Sadly the chances that Microsoft will update their software to fix this are high, so enjoy it while it lasts.

In other news the software mogul still can’t seem to find the creator of the FairUse4WM software. If I may paraphrase, “What’s in a name? That which we call Viodentia, by any other name, would code just as sweet.” Viodentia is of course the only name we have for the creator of the software.

Microsoft Zune DRM Cracked [via Crunchgear]

“We are going to give iTunes customers a choice—the current versions of our songs for the same 99 cent price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 30 cents more,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.”

“EMI and iTunes are once again teaming up to move the digital music industry forward by giving music fans higher quality audio that is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings, with no usage restrictions on the music they love from their favorite artists,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group.

I really want to see other studios follow EMI’s footstep and trusting its consumer. Way to go EMI and Apple!

[via Apple press release]

Basically, MCE Tunes is a MCE plugin that brings your whole iTunes library into the PVR software’s Music Navigation screen.  Since it doesn’t decrypt the DRM it’s not illegal, and it can be set to auto-update so that your MCE library always includes your newest music. 

Right now the only drawback is lacking support for media extenders, whether those be stand-alone boxes or the XBox 360.  However, Proxure are working on it and they promise it’ll be a free upgrade once they’re done.

MCE Tunes is available now, and costs $29.99.  There’s a free version which doesn’t allow the playback of bought iTunes files but otherwise lets you try out the interface.

MCE Tunes [via Automated Home]