WSJ Online is reporting (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110609171910929502,00.html?mod=rss_whats_news _technology) that Sony, Samsung, Philips, Matsushita and Intertrust have joined the Marlin Joint Development Association, aiming to develop standard specifications for software that can prevent digital movies and music from being improperly copied. The Association also intends to enforce rules about how such content can be played and shared.

What makes Marlin different, the article cites supporters, is mainly that it is emanating from some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics. "The CE industry has been pretty quiet," said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust's chief executive. Now, they are "detonating their DRM," he said.

Our question of the day: Can hackers be impressed by such a joint effort and can piracy really be discouraged by adopting increasingly more restrictive anti-piracy technologies?

Joint effort on standardizing DRM = One DRM scheme, meaning less different types to crack.

All I'm saying is that this could very well benefit people copying movies/music... After all, DRM is ALWAYS cracked by SOMEONE.

WSJ Online is reporting (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110609171910929502,00.html?mod=rss_whats_news _technology) that Sony, Samsung, Philips, Matsushita and Intertrust have joined the Marlin Joint Development Association, aiming to develop standard specifications for software that can prevent digital movies and music from being improperly copied.(Emphasis mine) I have to wonder what they consider "properly" copying their content..

There is this growing sentiment in the industry to remove the "ownership" rights of a purchased work from the customer (note, I did not say "consumer", we do not "consume" products), to a "lease" or "rent" model. Do you want to "rent" your music for 20 plays? Or that DVD you just bought, for 5 plays only?

People generally want to keep what they spend their money on, and consider it their own, when they do. Should I write checks with vanishing ink now? Or print my own currency on paper that degrades after 10 uses?

Yes, there may be growing pressure in the "industry" to do so... But customers would hate it. And I, for one, would boycott it.

Who plays music they like only 20 times? Who wants to pay extra to play it 2000 times, compared to 2 times? It's rather insane...

Read what Cory Doctorow has to say (http://craphound.com/bbc_drm_response.txt) about the new planned DRM system: Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying. When pressed, these entities will surely admit that this technology is not meant to be proof against a skilled attacker, but rather it is meant as a "speed bump" that works on "average users" to "keep honest users honest." If they are particularly disrespectful of 52 percent of the world's population, they might even tell you that this is the kind of thing that their mothers can't defeat.