The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) is pushing for an agreement with music download sites and other entities in Japan that would see digital rights management (DRM) copy protection software being placed on mobile phones in the country. In Japan, handsets are branded, supplied and managed by the network operators themselves. Every year, about 330 million tracks are sold legally and delivered over-the-air in Japan.
It is estimated that as many as 400 million tracks are shared illegally each year. The Financial Times reported the story, citing anonymous participants in the talks. If the plan were to go ahead, when a user attempts to play a song on a mobile phone, the device would first consult online servers to check whether the file was legitimate.
If it wasn’t legitimate, then the song simply wouldn’t play. If the companies involved came to an agreement soon, then the technology could be rolled out in the country as early as 2011. Of course, there are some big questions that need to be asked about its practicality. What about legally “ripped” tracks from a purchased CD? How could they possibly be verified - or would they simply not be allowed to play on the phone either? What about free music?
Also, it is likely that for the plan to work, all companies offering legal downloads in the country would have to participate in it, for music to be “authorized” before being played - and so would all carriers. It is a sad fact that while online stores in other countries are increasingly stripping away restraining DRM content, Japan’s record company trade group wants to push the country in the opposite direction.
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Result for: digital rights management
Sonic Solutions has announced that will begin selling USB drives loaded with movies that are available through their CinemaNow service, at retail price, beginning later this year.
The drives will each hold one film, and will come from the CinemaNow library, which offers over 10,000 films from all the major studios.
The movies can be played right from the drive or through many of the CinemaNow integrated devices. The content is yours forever once you buy it.
“Delivering content on USB drives is the latest example of how Roxio CinemaNow is enabling access to digital Hollywood hits across the broadest possible range of devices,” Dave Habiger, president and CEO at Sonic, added, via VB. “Teaming with industry leaders such as Widevine is allowing us to overcome the technical hurdles of digital rights management and platform optimization behind the scenes, so all the consumer experiences are convenient, hassle-free entertainment viewing.”
The drives will be sold independently at retail or bundled with phones or other devices.
Result for: digital rights management
Yesterday, TF posted that according to an interview in SCMagazine, RIAA chief spokesperson Jonathan Lamy had declared the death of DRM (digital rights management), putting an end to years of backing from the trade group.
When asked about his thoughts on the rights management scheme, Lamy apparently said: “DRM is dead, isn’t it?” Also looking to the future, Lamy said it was “clear” that DRM was not part of the picture.
According to an email sent to BetaNews however, the quote is “blatantly inaccurate.” He did add however, that DRM is slowly but surely moving towards death in the music world, but remains important in the TV and movie world.
The RIAA has spent years backing the policy of DRM, despite harsh criticisms against the controversial standard.
