Re: Watermarking Re: Dear EFF: Please don't pick the wrong fight

On 2013-10-25 08:52 Mark Watson wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 1:37 AM, cobaco <cobaco@freemen.be> wrote:
> > On 2013-10-24 08:30 Mark Watson wrote:
> > > I think it's likely that a client-side approach would be much more
> > > feasible as a result.
> > > This is based on assuming that economics would drive the technical
> > > solution, not something else.

> > uhuh, more like economic considerations are pushing a technically unsound
> > bandaid that has obvious and unavoidable practical issues.
> > Any attempts to prevent those practical issues is going to run into all
> > the same issues as DRM

> "all the same issues" ?
>  I thought one of the major issues with DRM is that it might
> make it harder for users to making non-infringing use of the content ?

Make that 'all the same issues regarding who controls the clientmachine', 
You're right that it would allow things like backing up your watermarked copy. 
or saving it for later viewing, possibly on another machine.

HOWEVER, if you do the watermarking clientside, that means you're starting by 
handing the client an unwatermarked copy

Hence you end up with the same unwinnable arms-race as with DRM, where you 
need to control the clientmachine in order to keep it from acting as a general 
purpose computer able to manipulate the unwatermarked bunch of bits, in any 
way other then necessary to add the watermark

That means you end up with a proprietary black box on the client again, with 
all the same security, privacy and preventing non-approved clients issues as 
DRM.

> I'm just telling you how it is. If watermarking became a popular
> alternative with content providers to DRM then it would probably be
> implemented client-side, with the attendant robustness requirements. 
> I'm not advocating that or commenting on the implications, just telling you
> that - based on what I know - this is likely the way it would go and people
> should bear that in mind when discussing it.

Then the industry is foolishly setting themselves up:
- to be outwitted by the pirates yet again
- to be actively preventing free software or non-approved proprietary software 
yet again (and hence to be opposed by all those wanting free software, or 
their own clients yet again)
-- 
Cheers

Received on Saturday, 26 October 2013 15:10:14 UTC