SanDisk stakes its future on TrustedFlash

update New cards let consumers move digital video and music among devices without violating copyright protection.
Photos: Musical memory cards

The story "SanDisk stakes its future on TrustedFlash" published September 27, 2005 at 4:50 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Hmmm.

I'm not sure about this. On the surface it sounds like a good idea. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. DRM is an industry issue, not a consumer one. Will these cards handle rips of my CD's? Will these cards handle my mp3 collection? Will they work with iTunes? What about wireless file transfers?

[hadaso]

"... with our TrustedFlash, they could rule the world"

"... with our TrustedFlash, they could rule the world" ...

Nothing more to say...

[hadaso]

Time to move back to 35mm film!!!

Wanna keep your memories till after you retire?
Go back to 35mm film...

Even if they do offer tools to trasfer your archives from one DRM technology to another each time there's a new one, no one promises that you'll be able to afford it every time you need to switch, or have the time to do all the needed work...
This technology in digital cameras would remove the most important functionality people care about: recording memorable moments for "eternity"...

Think about it: Camera makers would be able to lock you in to using only their products. If you want to keep the photos you took in 2006 you'd have to keep using their hardware/software to view them. Can they really promise it won't be like that? Would you trust them if they did promise? These kind of promises are always subject to the "change without notice" clause...

[m.meister]

Tired of being treated like a criminal

It is already LEGAL for me to duplicate "copyrighted" material for
my own use (Fair Use).

The Recording Industry fought cassette tapes and lost. Result,
you no longer had to deal with 8-tracks. Market boomed.
Industry made a ton of money.

The MPAA fought Video Tapes and lost. Result, the movie
industry made BILLIONS.

The Recording Industry fought DAT (Digital Audio Tapes) and
won. Where are DATs today? Hmm, not very popular -- if you
can find them at all, the consumer versions have DRM.

We don't like being treated like criminals. This is just another
example of these industries (and this is mainly for RIAA and
MPAA folks) treating their customers like crap. Dictating when,
where and how we can listen to/ watch their content -- which
isn't THAT great to begin with.

I think these actions drive more legitimate users to piracy (out of
frustration) than anything else.

In the early 80s, software was heavily copy-protected. If you
wanted to make a backup copy, you had to essentially "pirate" it
-- i.e. use cracking software to allow you to make a backup.

Perhaps it is coincidence, but when the software industry
realized the cost of support was extremely high and stopped
selling copy-protected software (for most programs), the
industry BOOMED. I'm sure there were other factors -- but I
believe we as consumers fundamentally DO NOT APPRECIATE
BEING TREATED AS TWO-BIT THUGS.

[bbfreak]

*grumbles*

Indeed! I'm tired of it, and it MAY be simple or nearly pain free but I resent the idea that I HAVE to contact Microsoft if my motherboard dies and I've replaced it. Or that to download something I've got to validate that I'm using windows that I bought! There are enough problems in the world without my OS company having to treat me like a criminal. I didn't do anything wrong, and the majority of the people didn't do anything wrong either. So why the hell should I be treated as if I stole something when I contributed to the money that Microsoft does get? Boo hoo, Microsoft's bean counters are unhappy with not getting every red cent, I've had it!

[PlaceHolder]

They're out to lunch!

How the heck could this possibly work?

Hello??--There is NO point putting DRM on the storage device... Stored bits are meaningless... someone/something has to play them!

You either need a protocol for the storage to trust the player... or else any device could ask to play the decoded content, and just store it where ever it wants to.

You think some Chinese company is not going to find a way to break this DRM in about 10 seconds?? Dream on!!