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Macrovision and Broadcom do DRM on Linux
Here's a
press release from Macrovision and Broadcom on how they are producing a
digital rights management platform - on a Linux-based set-top box.
"The Broadcom DRM Tool Kit consists of a suite of silicon
solutions and software drivers that provide end-to-end security and
rights management of digital content in home networking and
entertainment applications. Included in the suite of services are
decryption and encryption engines, authentication services, tamper
detection services, and digital recording management services."
While much of this work can probably remain proprietary legally, they will
have to release their kernel changes; it will be interesting to see how
forthcoming they are with that code.
(Log in to post comments)
Macrovision and Broadcom do DRM on Linux Posted Sep 14, 2002 13:33 UTC (Sat) by heunique (guest, #728) [Link] Not sure...1. If they have written it as modules - then they don't have to release those modules under GPL. See NVidia binary only drivers as example. 2. If I'm not mistaken - the GPL modifications can be given only to the customer who buys the modified product. In this case - the OEM, which I'm not sure if he will release it... In any way - it looks like there's an extra hardware envolved, so I'm not sure if the code will help at all... Hetz
Macrovision and Broadcom do DRM on Linux Posted Sep 14, 2002 17:08 UTC (Sat) by origz (guest, #1985) [Link] Of course the code won't help. I'm sure the people who engineered the system are not morons. There are dozens of ways to get around GPL restrictions - modules, kernel hooks, etc. You can do the important stuff in a separate program, and interact with the kernel through hooks. Sony did something like that with their PS2 Linux.
Macrovision and Broadcom do DRM on Linux Posted Sep 18, 2002 18:37 UTC (Wed) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054) [Link] heunique wrote:the GPL modifications can be given only to the customer who buys the modified product. In this case - the OEM, which I'm not sure if he will release it... The General Public License (GPL) says in Section 3, (roughly) that if you distribute the binary, you must either
Thus, if Macrovision et al. send the source to the OEM, when you buy the widget, that company's got to turn around and send it to you, or make it available to you for >= 3 years. If, on the other hand, Macrovision just sends the promise, they've got to make it available ``to any third party''. (Option 3 isn't available to commercial transactions.) The bottom line is, if it's GPLed, you can't keep the source quiet without either breaking the license, or playing tricks (*cough*binary drivers*cough*) to weasel out of it. Best wishes, Max Hyre
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