Bad news regarding Dish and "DRM"

[Hall]

What are they supposed to do, tear out the drywall and recable? Is this also being forced on cable Companies?

Indications are that it will only affect the "movie" channels, i.e. HBO, Showtime, etc as they're the ones imposing this. And yes, it will affect the cable companies, DirecTV, and IPTV-type providers too. This is NOT something that Dish decided to do. The problem is, it sounds like Dish is the only one that's mentioned (internally .... remember this memo was for installers not the general public) it and what will be done.

As has been suggested, people should cancel their service (for the movie tiers) in response to this. Or, tear out walls and cabling or worse for some, buy a new(er) TV.

 

[Sammy033]

Or, tear out walls and cabling or worse for some, buy a new(er) TV.

And then forward the bill?

 

[Rangers484]

Why are all the major music labels dropping DRM (Sony BMG is the latest) and studios now adopting it?

 

[Bill R]

Why are all the major music labels dropping DRM (Sony BMG is the latest) and studios now adopting it?

Greed

 

[Hall]

And then forward the bill?

To who ?

 

[David_Levin]

What a silly reply from Dish. Of course the box can downgrade component. That's what it's already doing when 480i or 480p are selected for output. No way this person was a real Engineer.

Sorry if this has been said already but custom home theater installs very commonly use component cables... What are they supposed to do, tear out the drywall and recable? Is this also being forced on cable Companies?

Well, don't just blame dish. Hi-Def DVD also has the ability to downgrade component if the studios deem it. Yes, it's possible rewiring will be necessary. I've gone through 3 projectors, and had to pull new cables each time (s-video -> DVI -> HDMI). That's way a large conduit should always be left.

Bottom line, there's no gurantee a component cable is going to get you hi-def 5-10 years from now. Plus, can component carry 1080p (or more importantly 1080p/24)?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I talked with Dish DirecTV and a few cable companies here at CES. HDCP will be enabled SOON.

IT IS NOT SOMETHING THEY WANT TO DO BUT ARE BEING FORCED TO DO.

When it happens we will need to stand together and tell the programmers NO.

 

[Smith P.]

Real "NO" would be only do DE-SUB those channels !

 

[Tyralak]

Sorry if this has been said already but custom home theater installs very commonly use component cables, especially when its a long run done during prewire or during remodel. There is a local Company I used to work for that does very custom home theater installs, the type you see in magazines, $10,000 to $100,000 range. Most of these are done with component cable to the Plasm. What are they supposed to do, tear out the drywall and recable? Is this also being forced on cable Companies?

Brad

I hope this doesn't actually happen. I along with others here have contacted the EFF, (haven't received a response yet) I'm hoping for a legal challenge to this.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Let's see... Since my set doesn't have an HDMI input, only component and DVI and I've heard that HDMI->DVI adapters don't work so great...down-rezzing HD via component to look like SD will be entirely unacceptable to me.

They do this, I'll drop the HD pack entirely because I can't afford to go out and buy a new HDTV at this time...

 

[Hall]

Let's see... Since my set doesn't have an HDMI input, only component and DVI and I've heard that HDMI->DVI adapters don't work so great...

Have you actually tried it ? I suggest you do before believing others have ran into.

 

[Zero327]

We dont need to embrace it. We can all stand together and say enough is enough.

When this happens we must take action against the programmer for their actions. (remember Dish and DirecTV are being FORCED to turn on the HDCP from the programers)

If its HBO doing this, Cancel HBO and flood their phone lnes, send them emails etc. (And I am using HBO as an example, as I dont know if its HBO who will be the first to use this technology)

We need to stand together and tell these folks enough is enough.

How sad is it that one day a persons $5000 HDTV they just purchased a year or two ago gets a great 1080i signal today yet tomorrow (or whenever) they can tune to the same movie on the same channel and only get a resolution of 480p. The consumer did nothing wrong yet his $5000 HDTV is now useless for watching many of the HD channels just because some sit wants a switch turned on. Sorry folks we can not sit down and take this. Consumers have rights.

Consumers HAVE rights...until 11:59 PM tonight. After that consumers HAD rights. Thank you.

-- Metallica Legal Department

 

[whatchel1]

Hdcp

I talked with Dish DirecTV and a few cable companies here at CES. HDCP will be enabled SOON.

IT IS NOT SOMETHING THEY WANT TO DO BUT ARE BEING FORCED TO DO.

When it happens we will need to stand together and tell the programmers NO.

As far as I know HDCP has nothing to do with DRM. HDCP is the handshake to the equipment but not a DRM refusal to record.

 

[Smith P.]

You can treat it as a part of big dark cloud - "DRM".

 

[Tyralak]

As far as I know HDCP has nothing to do with DRM. HDCP is the handshake to the equipment but not a DRM refusal to record.

HDCP = High Definition Copy "Protection" It's all part of the DRM scam.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Have you actually tried it ? I suggest you do before believing others have ran into.

Oh, I'll actually try it...that's for certain.

 

[lakebum431]

I've heard that HDMI->DVI adapters don't work so great...

I've been using HDMI to DVI with various sources (ie Dish receivers - 942, 622, 722; PS3; 2 AV Receivers) for 2 plus years to my Hitachi RPTV with zero problems.

 

[Smith P.]

I've been using HDMI to DVI with various sources (ie Dish receivers - 942, 622, 722; PS3; 2 AV Receivers) for 2 plus years to my Hitachi RPTV with zero problems.

We all have same positive experience with many TV sets, but the HDCP wasn't enforced yet.

 

[haertig]

You'd think they'd have to have some kind of "truth in labeling" deal. You couldn't call a channel HD unless you also specified the prerequisites the customer must have. I have a new set with HDMI/HDCP but I have no idea if the HDCP actually works 100% correctly or not. The DRM flag (or whatever they call that thing) is not set on any HDDVD disk or Dish broadcasts that I've ever displayed. Does anyone really know if their HDCP functions correctly? The signal flags that exploit it just aren't out there yet for us to test with.

 

[whatchel1]

2008: DRM Continues to Punish Paying Customers

We may wind up in the same boat here. This is from the E.F.F.

Just three days into the new year, we have another example
of DRM punishing paying customers, rather than "pirates."
Netflix subscriber Davis Freeberg ran headlong into an
incompatibility between Microsoft DRM and ... Microsoft
DRM!

The trouble all started when Freeberg bought a new monitor
for his Vista computer. He soon found that in order to try
watching streaming movies from Netflix, he would have to
run the risk of permanently breaking other entertainment
media on his computer -- like his purchases from Amazon
Unbox.

Is this mess stopping copyright infringement? Nope -- it's
still easy to copy media and easy to find unauthorized
copies. In fact, one commenter points out that the easiest
"fix" for Freeberg's trouble appears to be downloading the
movie from an unauthorized torrent tracker.

Freeberg's conundrum is likely the product of the Protected
Media Path (PMP) (mis)features that have been added to
Microsoft's Vista operating system. Thanks to PMP, Vista
computers can now "audit" the video outputs, supposedly to
ensure that only "authorized" (aka DRM-laden) video boards
and monitors can receive Hollywood content. Unfortunately,
these kinds of (mis)features generally (1) don't stop
pirates and (2) result in compatibility headaches for
paying customers.