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WTF?
This is my new title for anything that is really ridiculous in the Internet/technology world.
Today's outrage is over Microsoft's effort to give the content owners what they want and totally screw over all of us.
It's called OPM and its a feature of the Longhorn operating system and it's described here on Engadget by Stephen Speicher.
If for some reason you don't want to click on the link, here are a few short snippets:
With Longhorn, Microsoft will begin pushing opium. Well, technically it’s OPM. However, opium might be a good option for those livid that the video content being sent to their pristine 24-inch Dell LCD monitors is purposefully being “fuzzied” (more on that later).
...
So what will happen when you try to play premium content on your incompatible monitor? If you’re “lucky”, the content will go through a resolution constrictor. The purpose of this constrictor is to down-sample high-resolution content to below a certain number of pixels. The newly down-sampled content is then blown back up to match the resolution of your monitor. This is much like when you shrink a JPEG and then zoom into it. Much of the clarity is lost. The result is a picture far fuzzier than it need be.
...
If OPM determines that your monitor falls below the security restrictions (i.e. isn’t DVI or HDMI w/HDCP), you could be greeted with a “polite message explaining that [your monitor] doesn’t meet security requirements.”
This is the first time I have heard of this OPM stuff and I need to do more research before I truly believe that Microsoft is really going to do something this dumb, but there it is.
All the great RSS stuff that is coming in Longhorn won't help me a bit because if I have to live with this, I won't be using Longhorn.
Oy.
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» OPM from Todd Kitta Unleashed
The latest Microsoft outrage is the technology which is purportedly going to be baked in to Longhorn when it ships which will keep older (i.e. most) monitors from watching premium video content; at least at an acceptable quality. Read about... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 16, 2005 11:32:34 AM
» hey robert, what's the deal with longhorn opm? from gapingvoid
From Fred Wilson:This is the first time I have heard of this OPM stuff and I need to do more research before I truly believe that Microsoft is really going to do something this dumb, but there it is. All... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 16, 2005 1:15:41 PM
» hey robert, what's the deal with longhorn opm? from gapingvoid
From Fred Wilson:This is the first time I have heard of this OPM stuff and I need to do more research before I truly believe that Microsoft is really going to do something this dumb, but there it is.... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 16, 2005 1:18:14 PM
» hey robert, what's the deal with longhorn opm? from gapingvoid
From Fred Wilson:This is the first time I have heard of this OPM stuff and I need to do more research before I truly believe that Microsoft is really going to do something this dumb, but there it is.... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 17, 2005 6:01:27 AM
» hey robert, what's the deal with longhorn opm? from gapingvoid
From Fred Wilson:This is the first time I have heard of this OPM stuff and I need to do more research before I truly believe that Microsoft is really going to do something this dumb, but there it is.... [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 17, 2005 6:09:21 AM
» One more lame idea from MS... but, from think again - Ideascape is advanture
One more lame idea from MS... but,
it could be any number of other companies that simply don't get it. Microsoft continues with their lame ideas and this one is no different. Basically, content will appear fuzzy on your monitor if it does not meet strict [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 17, 2005 12:46:59 PM
Posted July 16, 2005 in Venture Capital and TechnologyComments
It is this revolution of DRM and imposed measures that are supposed to simplify (yet just screw up) user experience and interaction that I just don't get. Microsoft sure is pulling some stunts in order to get Longhorn into the heads of people for the worse reasons possible.
They're playing their cards wrong because 1) they're not on top of their game on anything but the OS, 2) even the OS battle is getting risky with MacIntel and Linux, 3) they're trying to revolutionize things that don't need the microsoft treatment (think RSS); and 4) they're imposing DRM measures which may be fine from a legal standpoint but that users will never understand - because they feel like rights being taken from something rightfully owned.
This is why I believe they have been failing, are failing and will fail. OPM is just another brick in the wall between Microsoft and the rest of the world.
I don't mean to sound like a fanatic, Fred, but get a mac. You get a much more productive system, and at least you won't have to wait until 2006 for Longhorn, which is no more than XP+RSS on a transparency based User Interface, and without the feature I antecipated the most: WinFS, that they won't have ready in time as announced a few months ago.
Posted by: Frederico Oliveira | Jul 16, 2005 7:40:18 AM
... mac (and google and broadband) have thankfully set us free from worrying about this smack ...
Xensource has been making quite a few waves this week and is probably worth checking out as the "positive force" in the future of the OS ... in this article (http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=34175), CIO-today actually predicts: the end of the OS (as we know it)
Posted by: David Gibbons | Jul 16, 2005 11:33:57 AM
Output Content Protection and Windows Longhorn on microsoft.com
Posted by: Denis de Bernardy | Jul 16, 2005 11:45:24 AM
Quote from Microsoft's site:
Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management (PVP-OPM) makes sure that the PC’s video outputs have the required protection or that they are turned off if such protection is not available.
So, basically, it's a scheme to protect copyrights at OS level. This can't be all bad.
Posted by: Denis de Bernardy | Jul 16, 2005 11:52:48 AM
Denis: The problem with Protected Video Paths is the same problem with every flavor of DRM which seeks complete control -- it's *still* hackable. All DRM is hackable and all DRM will always be hackable. Period.
I am actually a huge proponent of DRM, working in the content industry for so long, but when a company expects their solution to be bulletproof, that is a sure sign of future failure. The correct parth to take is more along the lines of what Apple has done: protect assets with DRM such that it's simply *easier* to do it legally than to do it illegally. This isn't even so much a product of the DRM! It's a product of the iTMS. Interface, distribution deals, product integration, and price are bigger factors than the DRM itself.
Posted by: Mike D. | Jul 16, 2005 12:35:53 PM
And this is another reason I stopped using Windows 3 years ago. It's reasons like this that free software is a matter for freedom, not a matter of price. Freedom to run for any purpose, to study how it works and adapt it to your needs, to give it freely to others and to release your changes and adaptations to the world so all may benefit.
Posted by: Brian Puccio | Jul 16, 2005 3:09:27 PM
To all 'get Mac' guys. Are you sure believe that getting a Mac will solve the problem? DRM is needed by guys who sell you content, it's not a fad of Gates. So, if Apple will want to keep playing the game, they will follow the rules. The rules now saying 'get DRM'. You can switch to whatever you want, but the DRM ghost will always nearby.
Posted by: Alex | Jul 16, 2005 4:21:59 PM
@Mike: I was merely saying it couldn't be as bad as the quoted article suggests. Best I know, MS certainly isn't run by fools.
With respect to the solution, placing the protection at OS level rather than on top of the OS makes perfect sense. It will not be uncrackable, since you can always catch the stream when it is rendered. But as I understand it, the technology ensures nothing short of cracking the OS will fix a stream that runs on hardware that will let you readily copy it.
Posted by: Denis de Bernardy | Jul 17, 2005 5:02:55 AM
My favorite WTF is US-based search engines censoring "politically sensitive" content in China. I can't remember where I read about it, but I think it was yesterday. Here's a similar Guardian article, about Microsoft.
Posted by: Christy | Jul 21, 2005 12:14:34 PM
Come quick, Tux, HURRY!!
Posted by: Dan | Jul 22, 2005 6:51:47 AM
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