Sun Microsystems has set up an “initiative” to stymie attempts by Microsoft, principally, in its efforts to dominate the copyright protection arena, such as it is.
Sun’s Open Media Commons will mean royalty-free copy protection technology for all or, as Reuters puts it, “The issue of digital-rights management, or DRM, has spurred a number of plans to protect content, ranging from standards for mobile phones, digital music players, CDs, DVDs and other media, available from InterTrust, Microsoft Corp, Apple Computer Inc, Sony Corp and others.”
The story has Sun coo Jonathan Schwartz saying, 'The industry generally falls into two camps: Those who support what we're up to and others who want to collect a fee for using their own DRM standards.”
Apple, "argues that only by closely guarding its software, which restricts iPod owners who want to buy music downloads to its own iTunes Music Store, can it continue to innovate," says PC Pro. "As a result Apple has been widely criticised, most loudly by its competitors, but that hasn't stopped those competitors from pursuing much the same business model."
Actually, even Apple aficiandos have been equally vocal. Ask ex-RIAA (Recording Association of America) boss Hilary Rosen who will no doubt approve of Sun's idea.
“Most every player device works at every one of these ‘stores’ and it is pretty easy to keep all the songs, no matter where you got them, in a single folder or ‘jukebox’ on your computer,” she says. “The problem is that the iPod only works with either songs that you buy from the on-line Apple iTunes store or songs that you rip from your own CD’s. But those other music sites have lots of music that you can’t get at the iTunes store. So, if you have an iPod, you are out of luck.”
Meanwhile, "analysts said the project is ambitious, citing the need for content owners, software developers and device makers to be on board. Open-source software is that which is made freely available so programmers can modify and improve it," says Reuters.
"Schwartz said he planned to call for a cross-industry collaboration in developing what he argued would be an open and business-friendly approach to the free creation, duplication and distribution of digital content and, "To lay the foundation for the Open Media Common initiative, Sun will immediately share its internal Sun Labs program Project DReaM, what it calls DRM/everywhere available'."
DReaM? Schwartz must have been taking lessons from master acronym creator senator Orrin Hatch.
But Sun will have problems getting its DReaM Scheme adopted by a, "broad alliance of device makers, software developers and content providers," says PC Pro.
"They may be attracted to the idea of an open format, but the certainty that by licensing Microsoft's DRM your products will instantly be compatible with hundreds of others may be just too persuasive.
"Nonetheless the major movie studios and to some extent the big four record labels could hold the key to the future of DRM, after all it is they whose content will be rights managed, and they may just be swayed by the possibility of a single standard that crucially won't cost them anything."
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See:- Reuters - Sun Micro announces open-source DRM project, August 21, 2005 PC Pro - Sun takes DRM open source, August 22, 2005 equally vocal - Hilary Rosen to Steve Jobs, May 9, 2005
