Viodentia, FairUseWM and the End of the PlaysForSure format.
In the Summer of 2006, years after it was released for commercial use by interested parties, the PlaysForSure format hit it's first major 'snag'. The release of a piece of software called FairUseWM, which allowed a consumer to strip the DRM from a piece of media, was developed. This software completely bypassed the security inherent in the DRM system, allowing consumers to convert and play these files across platform.
FairUseWM's creator, an anonymous hacker named Viodentia, has been sought by Microsoft for 'crippling' the security of their format.
However, there may be more here than meets the eye. The program itself requires a certain degree of technical expertise. Most FAQs regarding its use are somewhat cryptic and difficult to understand for the average consumer. One might ask, "Whats the point, then? Why freak out?" If anything, this kind of software add-on would have been a boon for the MS format, making purchased files playable on any platform or portable device, including the iPod.
This isn't how MS viewed the situation. Instead, they launched an investigation into their own departments, claiming that the knowledge of how to strip these DRM tags would require an inside knowledge into the inner workings of the PlaysForSure format. Viodentia responded by claiming he used nothing more than publicly available static libraries to crack the DRM.
Microsoft has since dropped their case against Viodentia. When placed in context with the way Microsoft has treated some of it's PlaysForSure partners, including Shared Media, one begins to question the way they're doing things.
Microsoft drops case against FairUse4WM creator Viodentia
Zune - Stealing the Digital Keys
Following the FairUseWM debacle, Microsoft released a new proprietary format for their Zune player. Instead of continuing to support the PlaysForSure format on this player, Microsoft kept this piece of technology seperate from the PFS companies in hopes of offering direct competition with the iPod and iTunes model. They also introduced a bit of technology with their format... the ability to wirelessly share files.
This system of sharing media was a direct copy of the Shared Media Licensing Inc. business model, but with one quite important difference. With Shared Media, consumers became the real 'middlemen' between the artists and the fans, and were able to financially benefit from trading music and other forms of media. In choosing to support the Zune format over the PlaysForSure format, they eliminated this consumer revenue stream in favor of their own corporate bottom line.
Double Overkill - Microsoft uses Windows Media Player 11 and Vista to kill Weed
Following the release of the Zune, Microsoft quietly dropped support for the PlaysForSure format in favor of a new DRM-based format, yet to be released, named PlayReady. While the PlaysForSure model still works on older MS software platforms, there were two 'bugs' present in the updated system that made it impossible to continue using Shared Media's superdistribution network.
Windows Media Player 11 came first. While rolling out this update, Microsoft added and additional 'security feature' that registered if a file had been tampered with or not. This 'bug', as it's been called, effectively castrated SML's distribution model. SML registers files to individual accounts, adding a small unique bit of tracking data to each file as it sells to ensure customer payment when they trade files. However, the updated version of Windows Media Player now picks up this tracking data a 'tampering' and refused to play the purchased file. This 'bug' in no way effects the Zune distribution model.
If that wasn't enough, the purchasing system was further crippled during the Vista rollout. Updates to the ActiveX security system eliminated the end users ability purchase files altogether, even when using a seperate media player.
In response to Microsoft's crippling updates, Shared Media Licensing Inc. closed it's doors as of April 9th, 2007, disabling the purchasing and relicensing abilities of all it's consumers.
But why? The PlaysForSure format works fine on older computers not running Vista. And the Vista rollout is seen by most as premature. I myself have a Vista computer, and while it does look pretty, it's buggy as all Hell. It hogs memory like crazy and I can't even watch a movie without my videocard hiccuping every few minutes. If anything, Shared Media had grounds for pursuing an Anti-competition lawsuit against Microsoft for closing out their format in favor of their own technology. Yet they chose not to do so.
Who was Shared Media Licensing Inc.?
I signed on with this corporation in May of 2004. I thought the model was a step towards a fair and equal system where artists and fans alike could profit from creative works. I was so entranced by the system, I began studying it's model of product creation as a possible foundation for the next dot.com bubble.
If digital media, a product of pure creativity, could be given a absolute value on the world market, it would open the door for an infinite volume of valued products to fill a new Digital Media Marketplace and Stockmarket.
However, that majority of the people who worked with Shared Media never recieved more than an email or fax in regards to who this company was and what they stood for. I've exchanged emails back and forth with the President and CEO of SML, John Beezer, yet I have no idea what he even looks like, nor what he stands for as an individual.
This additional barrier between the company and the people supporting the corporation led to eventual disagreements. Suggestions regarding specific means for implementing the DRM often went unheeded or unnoticed. New applications for consumers wishing to use their technology or become ICPs began to take longer and longer. I've been in communication with one individual who had an application for access take six months to process, only to have the entire project close down less than a month after her application was processed.
So what happened here? A DRM is released that allows for cheaper distribution on CD, ensures a fair percentage for independent artists, eliminates the need for large record labels, and provides an incentive to the fans for not cracking and continuing to trade licensed files. Even Macs can dual-boot to Windows now, so these files could run on any modern machine (pre-Vista) and most of the PCs released in the last 10 years.
If MS themselves had incorporated the DRM stripping utility into their programs, there wouldn't be a computer or portable device on the planet that wouldn't have been able to play these files. We arrive at two conclusions from the aforementioned data: Either someone in these two corporations is very Greedy... or very Stupid. Or perhaps a mixture of both.
Maximumizing Greed - Corporate Sabotage
Everyone in the software industry knows that software often goes through major revisions before the code is ready for general use by the public. While the software issues surrounding the PlaysForSure model had already seen millions of dollars invested, the business model that would control the flow of value had not.
It's surprising that Microsoft and Apple, of all companies, are permitted to profit from the demise of the Recording Industry. These two entities are directly responsible for destroying an entire corporate business model, and despite being the biggest supporters of piracy in history, are also being looked at to fix the problem they've created at a net profit for themselves.
Shared Media Inc., while founded on interesting ideals, still demanded a 15% upfront fee for licensing files. After all someone has to maintain the database. But with a technology this disruptive, that's like laying claim to 15% of the Future of Media, which is a step towards a corporate monopoly. So in the end, none of these model sufficed to create a system that was truly just and existed to benefit everyone equally.
What did the Consumer Lose?
The average music consumer is the person who suffers the most under these corporate manipulations. For the past 4 years, a new technology has been available that has a number of benefits, but has been under-exploited.
1. Access to an online media marketplace where anyone can buy, sell, make or share music.
2. A means for re-introducing 'bulk indie music' to Music Stores, thereby saving smaller francises.
3. An equal right to earn a living buying, selling and reviewing music.
Diminishing Equal Rights in favor of Middle Management
With the closure of Shared Media Licensing Inc., as of this date, the World's first Music Stockmarket has crashed in value. The licenses, legitimately paid for, no longer allow consumers to gain access to the independent music they've already purchased.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the computerized world will not be upgrading to Windows Vista in the near future, Shared Media has thrown in the towel and closed the doors on everyone else.
These kinds of technologies should not be permitted to remain as playthings for corporate hands. ICANN was setup as a non-profit organization to prevent these kinds of imbalances from occuring. Too much power over the economy rests in the hands of those who're only interested in lining their own pockets.
Next Up: The Need for a New Solution
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