Open Source DRM

Posted Jan 26, 2006 14:28 UTC (Thu) by rknop (guest, #66)
In reply to: Open Source DRM by samj
Parent article: Ugly legislation in the U.S.

Well, the current laws wouldn't allow for that.

I also don't see how Open Source DRM can *really* work, and still be fully Open Source.

Open Source cryptography works, sure. But the difference with DRM is that you're trying to lock the content away from the same people who are supposed to see it. With normal cryptography, the content is supposed to be hidden from everybody but the intended recipient. However, there is nothing to stop the intended recipient from doing anything he wants with the content once he's used his key to unlock it. With DRM, you're supposed to stop the recipient from doing anything but a small number of approved things. But if the recipient has access to the source code-- then he can put in code at the point where the content is decrypted for whatever approved use, and siphon it off for whatever other use he wants.

No DRM scheme is going to be even nominally effective in a true Open Source environment. There can be Open Source *components*, but something in there has to be closed and proprietary to prevent programmers from undermining the system.

Also, as with GPLv3, DRM is counter to the very aims of free software. (I prefer that term nowadays, because Open Source seems to be a sanitized compromise term, with too much compromised.) As such, I'm not sure it's a good idea to normalize and tacitly approve of DRM by trying to play along.

-Rob

Open Source DRM

Posted Jan 27, 2006 12:32 UTC (Fri) by samj (guest, #7135) [Link]

Agreed, there does need to be a 'sealed' component - currently proprietary software is filling that void but in future we will have access to the same hardware tools that they do (eg Trusted Platform Modules aka Palladium). It should be possible to build a transparent, robust system that gives us flexibility while protecting the viability of creative industries (in which I'm not including what I like to call the 'legacy media industry'), ideally by protecting the files themselves rather than the path right through to the output devices.