I know there are a lot of non-windows users here, so maybe someone has a useful solution–other than cursing at Microsoft.
Recently, I’ve found a need to play a DRM’d windows media file, and I don’t have any windows machines at my disposal to play it. I have a PC running linux and my wife’s ibook with OS X. After trying from my PC, I thought it was no big deal–I’d just install windows media player on my wife’s ibook. That should work, right? But when I try to play the file, a webpage pops up saying that I need a player with “Windows Media Rights Manager V7”. So, apparently the latest OS X player doesn’t support it. Or am I missing something?
Short of acquiring a copy of windows or coding my own media player with cracked DRM (as if I have that kind of time), am I out of luck?
I’m really ticked about this. For years I’ve been trying to only have one computer and one OS that will do everything, but @#$% microsoft and the DMCA have to foul everything up. We should be able to charge microsoft rent for taking up a couple gigs of hard drive space just to play a video.
I can’t help you with your Linux problem. But I will take the opportunity to rant.
Don’t blame just Microsoft. Other companies like Apple, Real Media, and others are also developing DRM solutions to protect music and other content. I don’t consider Microsoft or Apple bad or evil because they developed a DRM system. There is a place for DRM. Save your ire for the media companies who inconvenience their customers with overprotective DRM. It is the media companies who are evil.
DRM can be a good thing if used for temporary content. For example you could check out a media file from your local city library and be able to use it for a week or two and then it would be disabled and effectively returned to the library so another person could check it out. Video rentals and music rentals are another area where DRM would enable a new business model. Newspapers and newsletters could use DRM to allow electronic distribution of their content. Basically most any electronic content that has a temporary lifetime is suitable for DRM.
Where DRM is not appropriate is content that has a long lifetime like music that you purchase. People consider a music purchase to be permanent. They expect to be able to listen to that music for as long as they want it. They expect it to be playable in 20 years. They expect to be able to pass it on to their children when they die. If you buy it you expect to be able to use it and listen to it forever. DRM is not appropriate for a permanent purchase because at some time the user is going to end up losing the file due to the DRM restrictions.
Backing up and managing a collection of music that is protected by DRM is complicated. You pretty much would need an IT department to manage it. Could you imagine trying to manage the proper backup and management of DRMed music files for a family where everyone is an active music listener and buys DRMed music? How does John let his sister Sarah listen to a DRMed music file he bought? How do you manage the backup of the music library when the music is spread out on several different computers? How do you manage the backup when some of the music is protected by Microsoft, some protected by iTunes, some protected by Real Media, and others protected by some other technology? It would be a nightmare. Even an IT staff would find it daunting. To make it even more complicated all DRMed music is not protected equally. Some Microsoft protected music files let you backup the license and others don’t. It’s up to the media companies to decide how many times they’ll allow you to transfer the file or even if you’ll be able to backup the license at all. So files from different sources will have different rules even though they’re all WMA files. It really is a nightmare.
Eventually you’ll botch up the backup or botch up the transfer to a new computer. Eventually you’ll forget that Sarah has one of your shared files or maybe her computer crashes and loses the file. There goes one of your allowed shares for that file. Eventually the files will all be lost due to some error in backup or when transferring to a new computer. The music you buy is no longer permanent. You only think you’re buying it for long term keeping. You’ll only be able to keep it as long as you are able to properly manage it and as long as your home IT department staff can keep it safe. Selling your music collection becomes almost impossible to do. Passing your extensive music collection on to your kids when you die becomes very problematic. The music is no longer yours. What happens to all of your DRMed WMA music if you buy a neat new digital jukebox player for the home stereo that runs on Linux? How will you play your music collection? What if you decide to switch to Linux in 10 or 20 years from now? Will you still be able to play your music collection?
DRM is not appropriate for music that you buy. If they want to rent the music to us for a short period and people willingly go for that business model then DRM is fine. If they want to sell the music then it needs to be in a format that guarantees that it will be playable and transferable for effectively forever.
The media companies (record labels) are turning into the most anti-consumer businesses that I can think of. Why don’t they just spank me when I buy their product. Thank you sir! May I please have another! Their business is not going to be sustainable if they keep on with their current ways. If they continue on the way they are they deserve to die and I’ll dance on their graves.
Yeah, I read the wiki about DRM after I posted and realized that its evils are much broader in scope, involving many media providers.
However, I’m still completely frustrated that I have to run windows xp just to watch videos with the latest WM codec. You see, I’ve been using the same 650 MHz Athlon system for 5 years now, and other than to comfortably run the latest software from microsoft, I have no reason to upgrade. I used to get excited about a chance to upgrade, excited about what I could do with the increased performance. But I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m content with what my 5 year old PC can do (with the right software). Why should I have to upgrade just to use microsoft’s bloated garbage?
That Wikipedia DRM article is a wee bit biased. It certainly doesn’t have the neutral POV that Wiki strives for. It needs a complete rewrite starting from scratch and needs to stay focused. Ah well, that’s Wiki…
Not that I disagree with the bias of the article, but it’s supposed to be a Wikipedia article and not an editorial or an all encompassing article about all that is evil.
Windows Media DRM is a Windows only solution. There is no native Mac or Linux player that can play Windows Media protected files. That applies to both video and audio. Mac users are just as much in the cold as Linux users. There is a Mac OS X version of Windows Media player but it does not support DRM. You might want to bring that up with whoever is distributing the video file you want to play. They are limiting their market due to their choice to use Windows Media. Mac and Linux users are making up a larger percentage of the user base now. Can’t ignore them completely.
If companies start using other DRM solutions instead of Windows Media due to the lack of Mac and Linux support then Microsoft might more inclined to port it over to other platforms. Right now all of the music sites that sell protected WMA files are limiting their sales to only Windows users.
My previous rant makes it clear that I don’t support DRMed music files and that I believe that only an idiot would lock in their music collection that way. Mac and Linux users are clearly not idiots so they wouldn’t want Windows Media protected content anyways.
That was an excellent rant about today’s state of DRM systems. This is why, since day 1 with iTunes (and earlier), I have strived to keep all my music files in plain old MP3 format. No rights management. I realize this will get harder in the coming years, but we’ll see if I’m able to stay on or near this path.
Until DRM is something that allows us users to still retain our “fair use” rights, I’ll do my best to avoid it.
Sorry about your DRM hassle. I know this isn’t a solution, but a recommendation is to avoid buying products that are so hard to use. If it comes in a different format, try to get the other one. If not, don’t buy it at all if you don’t have to. If enough people do this it will send the right message.
