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For the first time, the Windows operating system will wall off some audio and video processes almost completely from users and outside programmers, in hopes of making them harder for hackers to reach. The company is establishing digital security checks that could even shut off a computer's connections to some monitors or televisions if antipiracy procedures that stop high-quality video copying aren't in place.
In short, the company is bending over backward--and investing considerable technological resources--to make sure Hollywood studios are happy with the next version of Windows, which is expected to ship on new PCs by late 2006. Microsoft believes it has to make nice with the entertainment industry if the PC is going to form the center of new digital home networks, which could allow such new features as streaming high-definition movies around the home.
PCs won't be the only ones with reinforced pirate-proofing. Other new consumer electronics devices will have to play by a similar set of rules in order to play back the studios' most valuable content, Microsoft executives say. Indeed, assuring studios that content will have extremely strong protection is the only way any device will be able to support the studios' planned high-definition content, the software company says.
"The table is already set," said Marcus Matthias, product manager for Microsoft's digital media division. "We can come in and eat at the buffet, or we can stand outside and wash cars."
Hollywood studios didn't get all the protections they wanted in Vista, and record labels have even seen some of their key concerns about copy-protecting CDs left unaddressed. But the Vista operating system as a whole goes much further than any general-purpose computing platform before it toward addressing content companies' piracy fears.
Although ordinary MP3 files and DVDs will play without any difference, the deep changes in the way the operating system handles some entertainment content will come with costs. The most obvious of these may be the risk of compatibility problems between some older monitors or TVs and Vista computers, particularly when trying to play high-quality video. Vista may also make it harder to do some casual copying, such as recording Internet audio.
"This is definitely being driven by Microsoft's desire to position Windows as a home entertainment hub, and to do that they have to make some concessions," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with research firm Directions on Microsoft. "They're walking a line, trying to please both sides (content companies and consumers) at the same time."
These changes are worrisome to some computer programmers and digital activist groups. They fear that increasingly high security levels will block off avenues of programming innovation, or even stop computer owners from accessing portions of their own machines--a little like walling off a room inside a private house.
"There is a concern that there is a tendency to lock down parts of the design to protect the flanks of the copy-protection system," said Princeton University computer science professor Edward Felten, who has been an outspoken critic of rigid copy-protection rules. "That makes it harder for everyone, including Microsoft, to adapt to new uses."
Putting video behind a wall
Several major changes have been made to the way the operating system will handle video and audio, though few of these are included in the early version now in the hands of beta testers. The rest of the components will likely be added in the next, as yet unscheduled, beta release, and will be in the final launch of the operating system next year.
At the most basic level, some audio and video--at least when it is in Microsoft's Windows Media format--will be handled in a new "protected environment" that will keep applications such as media players or plug-ins separate from the actual media data.
Vista's antipiracy shield
Essentially, this means that much of the actual heavy lifting of decoding, unlocking and playing the audio will happen in what some engineers refer to as a separate "sandbox." Media player applications will send remote control commands such as play, fast-forward or stop into this protected space, without directly handling the data as they do today.
Technology called the "Protected Video Path" will then attempt to ensure that a video stream is encrypted--and thus difficult to copy--all the way until it reaches a monitor or other device where it is being displayed.
This won't always be possible, because most analog plugs, and some digital connections, don't support this kind of copy protection. Part of Vista's job will be to check to see what kind of devices are
See more CNET content tagged:
content company, antipiracy, studio, copy protection, Hollywood
I mean is this what the users really want?
"The table is already set," said Marcus Matthias. "We can come in
and eat at the buffet, or we can stand outside and wash cars."
IOW Microsoft is goiing in to eat at the buffet, leaving the users to
deal with the mess (wash the cars). At least that's how I read it.
If I get an OS I expect that OS to play it the way I want. Any type of Vista Features such as content degregration and locking will be fixed within a month after release. A PC is not a vending mashine.
The good thing is there's a current competition to see which hacking group will fix Vista as soon as it's released. So not to worry.
I mean is this what the users really want?
"The table is already set," said Marcus Matthias. "We can come in
and eat at the buffet, or we can stand outside and wash cars."
IOW Microsoft is goiing in to eat at the buffet, leaving the users to
deal with the mess (wash the cars). At least that's how I read it.
If I get an OS I expect that OS to play it the way I want. Any type of Vista Features such as content degregration and locking will be fixed within a month after release. A PC is not a vending mashine.
The good thing is there's a current competition to see which hacking group will fix Vista as soon as it's released. So not to worry.
I mean is this what the users really want?
"The table is already set," said Marcus Matthias. "We can come in
and eat at the buffet, or we can stand outside and wash cars."
IOW Microsoft is goiing in to eat at the buffet, leaving the users to
deal with the mess (wash the cars). At least that's how I read it.
If I get an OS I expect that OS to play it the way I want. Any type of Vista Features such as content degregration and locking will be fixed within a month after release. A PC is not a vending mashine.
The good thing is there's a current competition to see which hacking group will fix Vista as soon as it's released. So not to worry.
I mean is this what the users really want?
"The table is already set," said Marcus Matthias. "We can come in
and eat at the buffet, or we can stand outside and wash cars."
IOW Microsoft is goiing in to eat at the buffet, leaving the users to
deal with the mess (wash the cars). At least that's how I read it.
If I get an OS I expect that OS to play it the way I want. Any type of Vista Features such as content degregration and locking will be fixed within a month after release. A PC is not a vending mashine.
The good thing is there's a current competition to see which hacking group will fix Vista as soon as it's released. So not to worry.
looking for ways to grab money from another source since he
has already got that 90% of the world fooled. He isnt going to fix
winblows, he is going to side up with hollywood and waste some
of their time and money next. It would really be in everyone's
best interest to buy American, get a Mac, just like Mom and hot
dogs and baseball. The time to dump Windows is NOW, its just
plain useless to hope it will get better, 10 years have shown you
it WONT. What a shame PC users are stuck like this. A shame
the government didnt sue these hucksters at Microsoft long ago,
maybe the terrorists will use MSFT against us sometime soon,
and THEN "Maybe" many of you PC losers will get smart and get
off winblows for good. it just plain sucks.
Not that dumping MS is a bad idea...
On the other hand Microsoft only cares about the bottom line just like every other business who's trying to make money, including Apple. Notice here that I didn't say anything about Bill or Steve (Jobs). Bill is a competitor and he makes no bones about doing just about anything to win. Steve (Jobs) narcissistic about Apple. I can't tell you what Bill and Steve really feel down deep inside, but at the end of the day they both are trying to make money. The only real difference is that Apple could have been were Microsoft is today, but took a different path instead. I don't mean that to be good or bad either.
As a whole I am glad to see Apple fighting for the top and I am also glad to see other companies (Sun and Linux) trying to make way into Microsoft territory. Competition is good most of the time.
None of them really care for the end user though. We are faceless consumers. Now don't get me wrong, if they new each of us personally that would be different, but when was the last time you cared about some guy walking down the street you never met before?
I will buy Vista, video controls or no, I will just complain and sue the people who make the content if they do not make it CLEAR that their things will not play on Vista unless you have a Microsoft-certified Video Card.
Chances are that Windows popularity will decrease in favor of Linux. Apple MIGHT see a small gain, but many people, myself will stick with Windows XP and refuse to upgrade to Vista.
Hollywood needs to re-evaluate it's business model now, before it is too late. Theatre owners need to get rid of the advertisements and try to draw customers back. I love going to the theatre. There is nothing like seeing a great movie on the big screen, but several times I have been tempted to walk out when that Toyota ad came on. Oh, and by the way MPAA, you're after the wrong people when you show that piracy clip. I paid to see the movie therefore I supported you. I want to see the feature at the time indicated on the marquee.
looking for ways to grab money from another source since he
has already got that 90% of the world fooled. He isnt going to fix
winblows, he is going to side up with hollywood and waste some
of their time and money next. It would really be in everyone's
best interest to buy American, get a Mac, just like Mom and hot
dogs and baseball. The time to dump Windows is NOW, its just
plain useless to hope it will get better, 10 years have shown you
it WONT. What a shame PC users are stuck like this. A shame
the government didnt sue these hucksters at Microsoft long ago,
maybe the terrorists will use MSFT against us sometime soon,
and THEN "Maybe" many of you PC losers will get smart and get
off winblows for good. it just plain sucks.
Not that dumping MS is a bad idea...
On the other hand Microsoft only cares about the bottom line just like every other business who's trying to make money, including Apple. Notice here that I didn't say anything about Bill or Steve (Jobs). Bill is a competitor and he makes no bones about doing just about anything to win. Steve (Jobs) narcissistic about Apple. I can't tell you what Bill and Steve really feel down deep inside, but at the end of the day they both are trying to make money. The only real difference is that Apple could have been were Microsoft is today, but took a different path instead. I don't mean that to be good or bad either.
As a whole I am glad to see Apple fighting for the top and I am also glad to see other companies (Sun and Linux) trying to make way into Microsoft territory. Competition is good most of the time.
None of them really care for the end user though. We are faceless consumers. Now don't get me wrong, if they new each of us personally that would be different, but when was the last time you cared about some guy walking down the street you never met before?
I will buy Vista, video controls or no, I will just complain and sue the people who make the content if they do not make it CLEAR that their things will not play on Vista unless you have a Microsoft-certified Video Card.
Chances are that Windows popularity will decrease in favor of Linux. Apple MIGHT see a small gain, but many people, myself will stick with Windows XP and refuse to upgrade to Vista.
Hollywood needs to re-evaluate it's business model now, before it is too late. Theatre owners need to get rid of the advertisements and try to draw customers back. I love going to the theatre. There is nothing like seeing a great movie on the big screen, but several times I have been tempted to walk out when that Toyota ad came on. Oh, and by the way MPAA, you're after the wrong people when you show that piracy clip. I paid to see the movie therefore I supported you. I want to see the feature at the time indicated on the marquee.
looking for ways to grab money from another source since he
has already got that 90% of the world fooled. He isnt going to fix
winblows, he is going to side up with hollywood and waste some
of their time and money next. It would really be in everyone's
best interest to buy American, get a Mac, just like Mom and hot
dogs and baseball. The time to dump Windows is NOW, its just
plain useless to hope it will get better, 10 years have shown you
it WONT. What a shame PC users are stuck like this. A shame
the government didnt sue these hucksters at Microsoft long ago,
maybe the terrorists will use MSFT against us sometime soon,
and THEN "Maybe" many of you PC losers will get smart and get
off winblows for good. it just plain sucks.
Not that dumping MS is a bad idea...
On the other hand Microsoft only cares about the bottom line just like every other business who's trying to make money, including Apple. Notice here that I didn't say anything about Bill or Steve (Jobs). Bill is a competitor and he makes no bones about doing just about anything to win. Steve (Jobs) narcissistic about Apple. I can't tell you what Bill and Steve really feel down deep inside, but at the end of the day they both are trying to make money. The only real difference is that Apple could have been were Microsoft is today, but took a different path instead. I don't mean that to be good or bad either.
As a whole I am glad to see Apple fighting for the top and I am also glad to see other companies (Sun and Linux) trying to make way into Microsoft territory. Competition is good most of the time.
None of them really care for the end user though. We are faceless consumers. Now don't get me wrong, if they new each of us personally that would be different, but when was the last time you cared about some guy walking down the street you never met before?
I will buy Vista, video controls or no, I will just complain and sue the people who make the content if they do not make it CLEAR that their things will not play on Vista unless you have a Microsoft-certified Video Card.
Chances are that Windows popularity will decrease in favor of Linux. Apple MIGHT see a small gain, but many people, myself will stick with Windows XP and refuse to upgrade to Vista.
Hollywood needs to re-evaluate it's business model now, before it is too late. Theatre owners need to get rid of the advertisements and try to draw customers back. I love going to the theatre. There is nothing like seeing a great movie on the big screen, but several times I have been tempted to walk out when that Toyota ad came on. Oh, and by the way MPAA, you're after the wrong people when you show that piracy clip. I paid to see the movie therefore I supported you. I want to see the feature at the time indicated on the marquee.
looking for ways to grab money from another source since he
has already got that 90% of the world fooled. He isnt going to fix
winblows, he is going to side up with hollywood and waste some
of their time and money next. It would really be in everyone's
best interest to buy American, get a Mac, just like Mom and hot
dogs and baseball. The time to dump Windows is NOW, its just
plain useless to hope it will get better, 10 years have shown you
it WONT. What a shame PC users are stuck like this. A shame
the government didnt sue these hucksters at Microsoft long ago,
maybe the terrorists will use MSFT against us sometime soon,
and THEN "Maybe" many of you PC losers will get smart and get
off winblows for good. it just plain sucks.
Not that dumping MS is a bad idea...
On the other hand Microsoft only cares about the bottom line just like every other business who's trying to make money, including Apple. Notice here that I didn't say anything about Bill or Steve (Jobs). Bill is a competitor and he makes no bones about doing just about anything to win. Steve (Jobs) narcissistic about Apple. I can't tell you what Bill and Steve really feel down deep inside, but at the end of the day they both are trying to make money. The only real difference is that Apple could have been were Microsoft is today, but took a different path instead. I don't mean that to be good or bad either.
As a whole I am glad to see Apple fighting for the top and I am also glad to see other companies (Sun and Linux) trying to make way into Microsoft territory. Competition is good most of the time.
None of them really care for the end user though. We are faceless consumers. Now don't get me wrong, if they new each of us personally that would be different, but when was the last time you cared about some guy walking down the street you never met before?
I will buy Vista, video controls or no, I will just complain and sue the people who make the content if they do not make it CLEAR that their things will not play on Vista unless you have a Microsoft-certified Video Card.
Chances are that Windows popularity will decrease in favor of Linux. Apple MIGHT see a small gain, but many people, myself will stick with Windows XP and refuse to upgrade to Vista.
Hollywood needs to re-evaluate it's business model now, before it is too late. Theatre owners need to get rid of the advertisements and try to draw customers back. I love going to the theatre. There is nothing like seeing a great movie on the big screen, but several times I have been tempted to walk out when that Toyota ad came on. Oh, and by the way MPAA, you're after the wrong people when you show that piracy clip. I paid to see the movie therefore I supported you. I want to see the feature at the time indicated on the marquee.
against security attacks? But it doesn't what they do to combat
piracy or security attacks it will easily defeated. The record is clear.
programmer do any DAMN thing s/he wants, hardly ever even
BOTHER to ask the USER (it's easier to program that way, you
know).
I mean, you are absolutely right, M$ track record is totally
ridiculous. I guess the Hollywood types are coked-up to believe
anything from MS. I would argue that M$ do have geeks in
mind though, it seems they are only loyal to the programmers
and geek/nerds, they could care less about the average
consumer/worker though. Real truth is M$ has probably
figured out a great revenue stream (maybe hollywood has
decided to PAY M$ per copy?)
I guess MS are going to make audio/video inseparably
integrated into the OS. Ha ha ha... Maybe their lapdogs at the
DOJ/Bush administration will believe it though.
against security attacks? But it doesn't what they do to combat
piracy or security attacks it will easily defeated. The record is clear.
programmer do any DAMN thing s/he wants, hardly ever even
BOTHER to ask the USER (it's easier to program that way, you
know).
I mean, you are absolutely right, M$ track record is totally
ridiculous. I guess the Hollywood types are coked-up to believe
anything from MS. I would argue that M$ do have geeks in
mind though, it seems they are only loyal to the programmers
and geek/nerds, they could care less about the average
consumer/worker though. Real truth is M$ has probably
figured out a great revenue stream (maybe hollywood has
decided to PAY M$ per copy?)
I guess MS are going to make audio/video inseparably
integrated into the OS. Ha ha ha... Maybe their lapdogs at the
DOJ/Bush administration will believe it though.
against security attacks? But it doesn't what they do to combat
piracy or security attacks it will easily defeated. The record is clear.
programmer do any DAMN thing s/he wants, hardly ever even
BOTHER to ask the USER (it's easier to program that way, you
know).
I mean, you are absolutely right, M$ track record is totally
ridiculous. I guess the Hollywood types are coked-up to believe
anything from MS. I would argue that M$ do have geeks in
mind though, it seems they are only loyal to the programmers
and geek/nerds, they could care less about the average
consumer/worker though. Real truth is M$ has probably
figured out a great revenue stream (maybe hollywood has
decided to PAY M$ per copy?)
I guess MS are going to make audio/video inseparably
integrated into the OS. Ha ha ha... Maybe their lapdogs at the
DOJ/Bush administration will believe it though.
against security attacks? But it doesn't what they do to combat
piracy or security attacks it will easily defeated. The record is clear.
programmer do any DAMN thing s/he wants, hardly ever even
BOTHER to ask the USER (it's easier to program that way, you
know).
I mean, you are absolutely right, M$ track record is totally
ridiculous. I guess the Hollywood types are coked-up to believe
anything from MS. I would argue that M$ do have geeks in
mind though, it seems they are only loyal to the programmers
and geek/nerds, they could care less about the average
consumer/worker though. Real truth is M$ has probably
figured out a great revenue stream (maybe hollywood has
decided to PAY M$ per copy?)
I guess MS are going to make audio/video inseparably
integrated into the OS. Ha ha ha... Maybe their lapdogs at the
DOJ/Bush administration will believe it though.
and eventually get loaded with linux.
I hope Apple doesn't get this stupid but I fear they might as well.
and eventually get loaded with linux.
I hope Apple doesn't get this stupid but I fear they might as well.
and eventually get loaded with linux.
I hope Apple doesn't get this stupid but I fear they might as well.
and eventually get loaded with linux.
I hope Apple doesn't get this stupid but I fear they might as well.
- Barring users...
- by August 30, 2005 5:14 AM PDT
- ...from audio and vidio registries will not hinder hackers from using them, it'll just make it harder for the user and Broken Windows to fix.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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