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NYTimes on DRM Self-Help
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Sunday, January 05 @ 12:41:54 EST Copyright
There's a front-page story in today's New York Times about a new wave of DRM systems being deployed by media companies. Even without the sanction of a Congressionally-mandated broadcast flag or other legal backup, various anti-copying schemes are finding their way into home electronics and downloadable media.

Why am I not surprised when the article points out significant glitches in some of these schemes -- glitches that somehow always seem to come out on the side of too much protection? In one case, the owner of an $8,000 high-definition television screen was informed by his DirecTV box that "copy restrictions" prohibited him from watching HBO in high-definition:

If DirecTV detects that a customer's equipment would allow certain shows to be transmitted over the Internet, the viewer is informed that the material can be seen only in standard format. In Mr. Merson's case, the message appears to have been a technical glitch, which did not make him any happier.
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