HBO Exec: Don't Call It DRM

People don't like DRM, perhaps that's just because it's such a smelly word. HBO's chief technology officer Bob Zitter thinks so, he wants to ditch the term DRM in favor of "DCE," or, "Digital Consumer Enablement." Speaking at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association show in Las Vegas, HBO's top techie said the new term would better describe all the peachy ways that copyright holders and providers could dictate how consumers access content:

Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before," such as enjoying TV shows and movies on portable video players like iPods. "I don't want to use the term DRM any longer," said Zitter, who added that content-protection technology could enable various new applications for cable operators.

Zitter notes that HBO has HD on Demand movies ready to go, but can't serve them up due to piracy fears until it has better DRM in place. Excuse me, I should have said DCE in place. HBO's big concern is the analog hole--in essence the gap in DRM that lets consumers capture the unencrypted analog signal from an HD signal. He, apparently, would like to plug the hole, but can't due to meddlesome laws.

Theoretically, says Zitter, those analog outputs could be disabled, forcing consumers to use a secure digital connection to watch HD content. But current FCC rules don't give HBO or cable operators that power, in order to protect consumers who bought early HDTV sets that don't support digital copy protection. "They say we can't turn off the analog output," Zitter notes.

That's a bummer, Bob. Yet while it's easy to joke, Zitter's comments at the industry event are revelatory into the disconnect between content consumers and producers. Instead of addressing the problems its customers have with DRM, HBO's tech chief wants to call it by another name. It shows a fundamental distrust of the customer base. Some of Zitter's ideas are great--burn to own DVDs that would let customers download and burn their own movies on demand, or "early window exhibition" that would make HD versions of movies available the same day as their video or theatrical release. Yet these things are being held up, apparently, by an industry that's fearful of its inability to control where its content goes after it's released to consumers.

My take is that if you make high quality content affordable, easily available, practical and portable (meaning that if I pay to download an HD movie I should be able to watch it on my set top, iPod, computer, PSP or elsewhere) most people will pay to use it, rather than steal it. To some extent, the iTunes Store has proved this over the past few years as its digital sales have skyrocketed. Even moreso has eMusic. Yet the former still has a DRM wrapper while the latter doesn't sell major label music.

Yet in the next year, EMI is going to take the radical step of trusting its customers, offering high quality content without restrictions on when and how you can enjoy it. That--not new restrictions or crippling technologies--is digital consumer enablement.

MySpace Announces Site-Wide DRM

MySpace has enacted a new system for copyright management called Take Down Stay Down. The system is designed to do exactly what it says: keep content that has been removed from MySpace, permanently removed from the site (often content is reposted even after initial takedown notices by copyright holders). The press release gives some insight into how the technology actually works:

"When a content owner informs MySpace that a user has improperly posted its content onto MySpace Videos, not only is the video promptly removed by MySpace, but MySpace also creates a digital fingerprint of the video content and adds it to its copyright filter, which is based on industry-leading Audible Magic technology. If any user tries to upload the same content that has been removed, the filter will recognize the digital fingerprint and block the content from being uploaded."

This doesn't smell good for MySpace. Slipping in site-wide DRM on teenagers accustomed to freedom on the Internet is a recipe for disaster.

Michael Angus, EVP and General Counsel for Fox Interactive Media, said, “MySpace is pleased to be the first website to implement a more effective solution to this challenging problem. This is a ground-breaking and unprecedented benefit for copyright owners that re-enforces MySpace's position as the leader in copyright protection on the Internet.”

This new development will not only put MySpace in the good graces of the IP/DRM police, but it will also put Google/YouTube on the spot as the obvious question becomes: Why hasn’t YouTube implemented the same system? On the downside, we'll have to watch closely to see if this new soft-DRM hinders the popularity of MySpace. It may be time to start taking bets on what site MySpacers will migrate to.