DVD Jon Creates DRM Killer

Firmafest writes to let us know that 'DVD Jon' Lech Johansen's company has released an open beta of DoubleTwist, a desktop application that allows the user to copy media to any device. There's a Facebook app too. The software is available for download at Doubletwistventures.com. Currently only Windows is supported, but a Macintosh version is on the way.

Re:VAC?

[boourns]

Virtual Audio Cable isn't free, while DoubleTwist is.

Re:Oh really

[Romancer]

It's special because of two things, the history of the name and the goal of the product. DVD Jon is creating a friendly all encompasing media bridge between online media, local collections and portable devices that "your parents could use" according to the article. This means mass adoption if it works and doesn't get legally raped.

Re:One-trick pony?

[compro01]

how do you figure that? as far as i understand it, this is practically an automated analog hole trick. theoretically, it should be able to bypass pretty much any DRM scheme.

Aww, no Blu-Ray?

[Thagg]

At some point, I do expect that very large organizations will break the DRM on Blu-Ray, and they'll probably present it to DVD-Jon, much like they did with DVD's. Probably be a while, though.

Re:Oh really

[MBGMorden]

I hate to break it to you, but ANY conversion from AAC is going to be lossy->lossy. There's not way around that because the compression algorithms are different. The best you could hope to achieve would be to convert from DRM'd AAC to non-DRM'd AAC. That's the only way you can avoid the quality loss incurred by a format conversion.

For a similar example in non-DRM terms: take an image. The less simple it is the quicker this will become obvious, but even on a photograph it will show soon. Save it as JPG. OK, now save it as PNG. Save it as JPG again. Go back and forth like this several times. Open and view the image. Notice that regardless of the fact that there was no-DRM involved and this was a completely legit "no workaround" conversion between formats, it looses information every time.

Does it really work this way???

[Anonymous Coward]

"The software automatically plays the song files in the background (sans volume) and re-records them as MP3 files so they can be transferred to any device."

This is not stripping DRM, this amounts to a generational loss of quality when its decompressed and recompressed. Why would someone known for cracking DRM protections start a company that recodes the files with loss of quality instead of strip the DRM from the existing file? Isn't this the same thing as connecting a SP/DIF cable to your output and feeding it back in so that you can recompress the digital signal as mp3? That's not what I called cracking DRM. Thats a poor mans solution to overcoming DRM.

Re:Yes

[infonography]

Slips out of a tricky situation with regards to breaking DRM. By using a already owned DRM key it doesn't have to break the protection. This keeps the software maker (you know who) out of any sticking 'breaking their encryption issues'. This makes it fairly immune to DMCA attacks thus reducing it to an automated method of converting files. These already methods already exist and it just makes the task easy.

Re:Oh really

[squidfood]

The best you could hope to achieve would be to convert from DRM'd AAC to non-DRM'd AAC.

But that would be worth achieving, otherwise this is just an unexciting automation of the analog hole.

Re:It Required MSdotNET

[Soloact]

Any technical reasons why you do not want dotNet on your Microsoft platform?

Too many bad experiences with some applications requiring one version of dotNET, and different applications requiring another version. In both such cases, the apps wouldn't work with the different versions that other apps used. Also, had the bad experience of a Trojan that had installed itself at the same time that dotNET was installing, which made me even more dissapointed in dotNET.
I then uninstalled all dotNET versions, and uninstalled any software that used it, and feel I'm better off now without it.

If you have a linux machine nearby, ...

[hummassa]

1. configure cups-pdf
2. configure samba and share the cups-pdf printer
3. print the PDF to said printer
4....
5. profit??!! (serious, now you should have an unlocked PDF for your document)

Re:I wonder who will be first..

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

"You can't copy that tune from there to this device. You must pay another fee!"...

From the DMCA: [copyright.gov]

Section 1201 divides technological measures into two categories: measures that prevent unauthorized access to a copyrighted work and measures that prevent unauthorized copying of a copyrighted work. Making or selling devices or services that are used to circumvent either category of technological measure is prohibited in certain circumstances, described below. As to the act of circumvention in itself, the provision prohibits circumventing the first category of technological measures, but not the second.

This distinction was employed to assure that the public will have the continued ability to make fair use of copyrighted works. Since copying of a work may be a fair use under appropriate circumstances, section 1201 does not prohibit the act of circumventing a technological measure that prevents copying. By contrast, since the fair use doctrine is not a defense to the act of gaining unauthorized access to a work, the act of circumventing a technological measure in order to gain access is prohibited.

I am not a lawyer, or by no means competent in reading laws. However, from what I can gather, unless the DRM is designed to prevent you from accessing the content (e.g. napster after your subscription expires), then you may circumvent for fair use. It actually does prohibit "making or selling devices or services that are used to circumvent either category of technological measure", but not owning or being in possession of such goods or services. That means that as long as DVD Jon's actions are legal in whichever country he chooses to stay, he can continue to make and distribute his DRM-circumventing programs, and we can legally download and use them, so long as we don't distribute the programs ourselves (e.g. give it to a friend).

Re:It Required MSdotNET

[Billly Gates]

How can the mac version run if its written with .NET?

Re:DMCA doesn't apply ourside USofA

[unlametheweak]

Pardon? How does trusted computing plug the analogue hole, and what has 64 bits got to do with it?

The 64-bits is just a product of history. Microsoft's plan is to have all there 64-bit operating systems support TCP, and Microsoft plans to phase out all their 32-bit operating systems (much like they did with their 16-bit operating systems) circa 2010. One of the goals of TCP is to in fact "plug" the analogue hole. The idea being that hardware would be harder to crack than software, and the hardware thus helping the OS to police the software and policies set forth within, that designate user rights (such as copying). As lgw points out, the analogue hole is itself not fully plugged ATM (probably only because of compatibility issues with TCP High Def monitors and video cards for example (and those that are not fully compatible yet [we here such marketing phrases as HD-compatible for example]), and the marketing and PR issues that ensue when people cannot adequately use the products they purchased).

Re:What is property?

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

No, the DVD in my hand that I burnt from an ISO is quite real, so is this hard drive full of DivX encoded movies. So are the profits to be made from pirating movies.

However, the losses involved from no-sale piracy are quite imaginary.

Re:What is property?

[electrictroy]

The issue is not property (a poor choice of name).

The issue is labor.

I'll use an example to illustrate:

You are a good office worker, and your boss has tasked you with writing a 100-page document. You spend all week writing said document and when it's done, you hand it off to your boss. He says, "Thanks; beautiful work." You then go home and wait for your check.

The check never arrives.
Meaning that you labored to produce a work,
but never got paid for it.

Okay. Now imagine that your name was Stephen King, and that 100-page document you created was your latest short story, and that your bosses (the customers) took that work without ever paying you.

What they've stolen is not property.
What they've stolen is another man's labor.
Like the planatation owners did to slaves.

Bottom Line: I believe that the authors, writers, et cetera deserve to get paid for their labor. They don't get hourly wages like we do, but they do still deserve to be paid for the labor that they performed. BUYING the short story is how we customers pay them for that labor.

If you don't pay, you've stolen another man's labor without just compensation.

You've turned that man into your own personal slave (labor without payment).