iTunes customers angry over copy protection moves at Apple
Want to watch a high-definition show from iTunes on an older external display? Good luck!
Some Mac users are teed off that they are getting error messages saying the iTunes movie they rented or bought can't be played on their display because it is not HDCP (High Digital Content Protection) authorized.
And some people are complaining they are only able to play certain standard definition iTunes content on their laptop or via an HDMI connection.
As a result, some Apple forum participants have threatened to boycott iTunes.
"And here we are now with Apple users who have spent thousands of dollars on Apple hardware (30" Cinema displays are not cheap!), buying films legitimately through Apple's store only to find themselves screwed when they just want to watch the film!" wrote "non-troppo" on the Apple Discussions Forum.
Forum participant Jim Beggans complained that Apple expanded the usage limitations of iTunes without updating the published usage terms.
"It is imperative that Apple address this customer concern with NEW terms of service (which will require them to offer some remedy for existing purchases) and clarify that HDCP is a now a standard part of their products regardless of which mode of the DisplayPort is in use," Beggans wrote.
ArsTechnica, which first covered the issue, reports that Apple's new MacBook is using DPCP, or DisplayPort Content Protection, which was developed by Philips.
The Mini DisplayPort connector used on Apple's new MacBooks and MacBook Pros uses DPCP to prevent iTunes files from being played on devices that are not compliant with either DPCP or HDCP, a copy-protection technology used with the HDMI standard. DPCP supports the HDCP technology, but is considered a stronger level of encryption according to the Video Electronics Standard Association (click for PDF) .
"While Apple's own Apple TV has used HDCP to protect video files playing from its HDMI port, this is the first time we've heard of Apple bringing HDCP DPCP to its hardware," David Chartier writes on ArsTechnica.
Basically, Apple is moving forward with a new standard that is not compatible with older displays. In the past, Apple has shown a willingness to forge ahead with new technology that doesn't always play nice with the older stuff, and the decision to use the Mini DisplayPort connector on the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros ensured that DPCP and HDCP would come along for the ride.
"Apple's compliance with HDCP--a necessary but appalling condition of the content companies that deliver the HD movies and TV shows--is beginning to close out the 'analog hole' and cause real aggravation for laptop owners with legitimate use cases, writes Michael Rose on The Unofficial Apple Weblog site.
Andy Foster sums the situation up on his Computer Blog: "In other words, the only way any of us can guarantee we can play the stuff we buy that is HD is to ensure we have the newest in hardware."
What does Apple have to say for itself? We don't know and likely won't. Apple representatives did not return repeated phone calls and e-mails seeking comment over two days.
(CNET News' Tom Krazit contributed to this report.)
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/media/output_protect.mspx
....wait, XP has it too...(Certified Output Protection Protocol)
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/20/windows-vista-content-protection-twenty-questions-and-answers.aspx
So what was your point again?
Regarding content, I own an Apple TV and got rid of it a few months back. It's a money-pit. It doesn't work very well. Perhaps it does work well enough most of time, but I did have to reboot it something awful. Switched to a TiVo and I wish I had done that a long time ago. TiVo is the way to go. Apple TV is pretty much a waste of time. iTunes with no subscription option is also a waste of time and money. Most folks listen to music, then get sick of it and then find newer music. For those kinds of people, a subscription will cap their monthly costs while offering them a tremendous amount of value. The Zune Marketplace is a great way to go. And if you do want to own the song, just go to Amazon. Cheaper, better encoded, higher bit-rate, and DRM free. It bests Apple on every single front. Don't why people waste money on iPod and Apple. It's yesterday's technology.
Alex
Apple's demise is coming. AND!!! I would love to see that.
Their own arrogant practices will cause the collapse...YES!
and no!....I am Neither a APPLE or a WIndows FANBOY....I use whatever works....even if it has to be linux.
You do realize that by going from AppleTV to TiVo, you went from OSX to Linux, right?
Again, it's a dream come true for a computer maker. Lots of profit to be made.
The PC examples given however all seem to be all media specific and for obvious content ownership licensing and anti-copying reasons whereas my point was the wider one re Apple hardware lockup policy v PC open hardware design policy not just specific entertainment apps ? which I confess is not my area.
Apple have always sold far less than the PC world due to their restrictions on third party connections and this is not surely the way to go in a world moving to total connection ability and open source software from op.sys to app?
Their latest moves reprted here do nothing to correct that policy.
Amazon, Microsoft, TiVo, etc. have no more control over what content they can show or sell you without restrictions than Apple does. The studios, in particular the movie & television ones, have and will continue to regulate who gets what, how and when. The only reason Amazon is selling the DRM-free songs is because the music studios wanted to punish Apple because it wouldn't let them raise the price on songs; they could turn on Amazon tomorrow. Digital movies, especially Blu-Ray, are heavily restricted from copying, selling or viewing without some sort of regulation.
Sure, you can get it from torrents, but at that point it won't matter whether you use Mac, Windows or Linux to watch. And good God, enough with the subscription advocation....it sucks to rent music, it only benefits the industry and most people have rejected it out of common sense!!
About the only thing more insufferable than Mac Fanboys is the PC Nazis lathered up to crucify them for ignorant reasons in choosing a Mac!!
/
Apple should do us all a favor and provide a rebate for anybody who wants to buy an HDFury (http://www.hdfury.com) to make their "non-compliant" display work with their iTunes or other video content.
Apple is just as apt to cut off older, ubiquitous, and still-useful technology so that it can sucker its users into buying the "newest, freshest" as any other company out there...other computer software comapnies, cellular companies, whatever: they're all into milking the consumer. Apple is no different.
Apple is just another Microsoft like Monopoly, Apple sues any company that dares make a Macintosh clone or compatible like Pystar. When will people wake up and learn that Apple and Steve Jobs are not Insanely Great but Greatly Insane? Profit is everything Apple wants, not compromise to Mac customers of older technology. Apple is in bed with the RIAA and MPAA so they use DRM that makes old Mac technology no longer work.
OS/2 does not have HD video players either, nor the ability to use iTunes media. Even if it did, you'd have problems trying to find the right video and audio drivers for it and be stuck with 640x480 VGA and Sound Blaster 16 drivers.
He'll most likely say that Mac OSX does not solve IRR/ERR spreadsheet bank issues. :)
Let me guess: Mac users? Orion: I love how you pull an old, out-dated OS from your closed mind and compare it to the animal that is Linux. Apples and Oranges....
Let me tell you how my next computer upgrade is going to go: I'll go buy maybe a video card, or a processor, or any part of my current machine that I think needs updating. Let's say I get the best in the category; I'm looking at maybe $500-$600 depending on what I'm upgrading. I'll go home, toss it in the computer (These parts only connect one way. You can't screw it up....well...most people can't.) Turn it on, Ubuntu will say "Hey, I see you have a ____" It will then install the driver. I'm out $500-$600 tops. And that's only if I go all out and buy the fastest, latest product.
Let me tell you how your next computer upgrade will go: You'll realize one day that your computer is running slow. You'll turn it off, then head down to the Apple store. There, you'll pay $1200+ for the LOW END mac product. Want to keep up with me? You'll need to plop down minimum $2000 for that. You'll get everything you need (Cause it's all in one package). You'll also pay $50 for a cable to transfer everything from your old comp.
Now, repeat this cycle every 2 years and you'll see that I save thousands of dollars and have as good, if not better, performance than you do.
Call me whatever you want, but I'll take money in the bank any day over paying into someone else's pocket.
techpack: I would recommend Ubuntu for a first time linux user. Very easy to install, and has drivers for pretty much any hardware. The support forums are also great if you have any questions.
You really ought to stick to things you know something about.
First, you can upgrade the video card in many Macs - just like your Linux box.
Second, a low end Mac isn't $1200, it's $600 - or just about what you're going to pay for a video card.
Third, Macs remain useful for a long, long time. When you take the price of a mid-range Mac and spread it out over its lifetime, the average cost probably isn't any more than your annual costs.
Finally, who cares whether you're a cheapskate? Some people prefer to buy a quality product that they can use rather than futzing with their computer. If you choose to do it your way, no one is criticizing you. So why are you so eager to criticize someone who made a different choice than you? Insecurity?
Okay now that I got out of the way, does anyone other than trolls think that Apple or MicroSoft cares how you play HD? The content sources are behind this.
The Macintosh was replaced with the Commodore Amiga in 1985, that is what the Mac should have been.
I hear some Mac Minis with G4 processors can run AmigaOS 4.0 and those that cannot can run AROS instead for free: http://aros.sourceforge.net/ Boycott Apple iTunes by reformatting your hard drive and running an OS without DRM built into it.
Soon the Amiga technology will evolve into AnubisOS:
http://anubis-os.org/
http://arosshow.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-amiga-based-operating-system.html
http://www.osnews.com/story/20516/Former_AROS_Developers_Start_New_OS_Project_Much_Secrecy
Just like Mac OSX is the marriage of NextOS and Mac OS, AnubisOS is the marriage of Linux and AmigaOS that will make Mac OSX and Macintoshes look like overpriced toys with technology that makes them useless for new media content so they can force Mac customers to buy newer Macintoshes and newer Displays. Tsk tsk, the Amiga never had those problems and my Amiga 500 runs really great, after my Amiga 1000 died in 1995 and the 500 replaced it. But will CNet report on Amiga, AROS, or AnubisOS? Highly doubtful.
On a serious note, I like that they're taking the Amiga design principles and bringing them to something modern. I'll have to go check that out.
/P
but thankfully, there are always ppl that are out there and smart enough to circumvent copy protection....not because they want to steal, but because HDCP causes people undo frustration and angers them further.
why should the average Joe have to go buy a more recent TV because a spec has changed and the content won't play ?
one tool out there that alot of ppl have used with sucess is HDFury and HDFury2, these allow you to play more recent HDCP content on older HDTV's....
Apple is just being a good little boy and following papa's rules.
Sucks that way.
Don't get mad at Apple; get mad at the record companies and movie studios who treat every single user like a crook - and they make us pay for the jail!
Oh, you didn't? Just flame-baiting Mac users?
If you want to be like John Dvorak, go work at PC Whirled and take lessons from the man himself.
If you don't like it, don't buy it from Apple. No one is stopping you.
You Apple fanboys are hypocrite. When it happens to Psystar, you go nuts, when it happens to you, you become crybabies.
Not he is just a troll. He make childish and asinine posts on just about every Apple story. If you call him out on it he doesn't have the balls to back up his story.
Grow up Leo
No wonder you're a Windows fan. Your whole life is wrapped up in manipulating your computer. Fortunately, some people have lives outside of their computer - and choose to use Macs when they NEED to use a computer.
MPAA and RIAA are just being their usual royal pains for all of us. As long as we are not pirating and selling (i.e. being criminals) we have nothing to worry about. I have Cable and my DVD deck coming into my Mac and have video Out as well. Works better than TiVO.
HDMI is a TV industry forced standard and it is actually late to Apple. The only OS you won't find HDMI is a pure open source one like Debian, FreeBSD.
- by dcardozo November 20, 2008 4:13 AM PST
- Pirates love when companies do things like these.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (66 Comments)Buy a legitimate copy, and you will have all kind of problems, if you can watch it at all.
Buy a pirated copy, and you can watch it where you want, with the hardware you want, easily make a backup copy if you want, etc.
Guess what version most of the world is going to buy.