iTunes Content Viewers Hit By DRM on VGA Displays

A report at Ars Technica details the story of a man trying to watch purchased content on a projector connected to a new MacBook via a DisplayPort to VGA adapter. Rather than seeing the movie, he was greeted by an error message stating the content could not be played back because the display was not authorized to play protected content.

This is simply inexcusable. It doesn't matter if it's Apple's doing, or the studio's. Back when Apple announced the DisplayPort connector, you may recall, we pointed out on TDL Live that the DisplayPort standard included HDCP (copyright protection) support.

At the time, no one knew how/if this would be implemented with iTunes content. Now it looks like we know.

I squarely blame Apple for this. Why? Because Apple is the only company big enough to stand up to the studios. There are plenty of ways, legal and illegal, to watch/acquire this content online without this hassle. Putting these types of restrictions on legally obtained content is beyond stupid, and can only serve to send people further into the dark torrent corners to look for content. The iTunes store was built on the belief that if you made paid content adequately easy to obtain, it would be a more attractive option than stealing. The worst part is, DVDs still represent the quickest, easiest way for people to rip movies and share them with others. People are not sitting around, grabbing the feed from their computer on its way to the TV to make illegal copies.

It is an unfair burden on the consumer, and a disappointment that Apple has not only played along, but aided this burden by incoporating and activating the DisplayPort HDCP. Ridiculous.

The Case For App Store Refunds

For as long as computers have had floppy drives, people have been buying software. There have been some quirks that have made buying software somewhat different from buying all other physical products. The biggest difference? The inability to return open software.

Once you open the software you can peruse the lengthy licensing agreement, and usually find a clause about returning the software for a refund if you don't agree with the terms. Of course the reality is, no one takes back open box software. And granted there's some legitimacy for that, considering you could've just copied the software, and now brought back the original to "cheat" the system.

Through the years, we've been conditioned to think this is normal, and unlike almost any other product, if we try software and decide it's awful, too bad. No refund for you.

Enter the iTunes App Store. As you know, the apps use the same fairplay DRM (technically v 2.0) found in the iTunes music store. Among other things, this DRM keeps you from sharing, or copying apps from the App Store. Without the DRM key assigned to your device/computer, the software will not run.

With the App Store, the logical reasoning behind why software can't be returned has been removed. We're all agreeing to this because its the way software has always been sold. There's no reason the store couldn't have say a 14-day return policy to match the policy of the Apple retail stores. It would be quite simple to de-activate the license key for that program, and refund the money.

I don't expect Apple to add this feature on their own. There's nothing in it for them but lost revenue. They and the developers do far better by having you buy an app without refund before deciding whether it will even do what you need it to do. We, as consumers have the power to start to look at DRM software the same way as any item in the physical world. If it is impossible to keep a digital copy of something purchased, then it should certainly be possible to return it.

If you are able to buy a Texas Instruments scientific calculator, try it, and return it if you don't like it, why should calculator software for the iPhone that cannot be copied have a different policy?

HD-DVD and the case for unlocking your media

The HD format war is over.HD-DVD has lost, and lost big. Lost in all the buzz about Blu-Ray's victory is the question of what becomes of those who purchased HD-DVDs. Short term, those people's lives haven't really changed. What happens though, a year from now when their HD-DVD player stops working? Some people have collected fairly large collections of HD-DVD movies. This is content that they have paid for, and content that is, unfortunately, locked to the disc.

In the audio world, it's easy to rip a CD, and have those files in a digital format. The same cannot be said for HD DVD, or Blu Ray. Here's a situation in which honest, law-abiding consumers have a legitimate reason to want to move the content from the original delivery medium. Let's not lose sight that that's what we're talking about here: media tied to a delivery medium, rather than a purchase. 

This is the first significant digital format to go belly-up. And while Blu Ray supporters are high- fiving each other victoriously, don't forget your format could be next.

But then again, maybe this is much ado about nothing. Perhaps this discussion will look quaint in five years. One would think once movies are delivered primarily online, the ability to play them would last as long as there are computers. What do you think? Should HD DVD movie buyers be able to convert those films to another format? Is this a problem that will go away in time? Should the studios be able to lock content to a particular delivery method?