So the MPAA's answer to our prayers is a streaming only feed with military encryption requiring a 4 MB download link.
The model where artists get paid year after year for performing a single work is long over. No portability and no local storage. And we all thought the Hillary Rosen era was dumb!
MPAA Approves DreamStation Anti-Piracy Technology For Digital Downloads
Home Theater News Industry-Trade News
Written by AVRev.com
Tuesday, 08 July 2008
No shocking news here. The MPAA has given their total support to the new digital copy protection software, DreamStream. According to the software’s founder, Michael Jay Solomon, DreamStream yields “military grade capabilities.” Also, he boasts that the “unpublished encryption has never been compromised by hackers or digital pirates.” Well, we all know that is the invitation for computer enthusiasts around the world to begin the decryption efforts. Let the next copy protection battle begin.
However, on a brighter note, DreamStream may be exactly what is needed to bring the downfall of digital downloading as the next media format of choice. The software works by only allowing purchased files to be securely streamed online, with no part of the information being stored on the user’s computer. Well, what good is that? Didn’t we go through this when music downloads first started? Consumers wanted the ability to take them with them on their laptop and eventually on the iPod or other portable digital music player.
If the files are not stored on the hard drive then the user has to rely on a constant, high-speed Internet connection to view what they just paid for. Current streamed media already has issues with buffering, which causes undesired starting and stopping of the video, and slow server speeds depending on how many users are connected. If digital online streaming becomes the next media format, ISP bandwidths will not be able to handle the increased volume and users will experience extremely slow connections and unreliable playback. Give yourself a little more guarantee for proper playback and high quality performance and invest in renting or purchasing the optical disc – true media.
The Motion Picture Association of America has approved the use of DreamStream's secure online file streaming system as a solution to curb digital piracy. The existing systems are broken. "We are very excited to have the MPAA stand behind our technology," said Ulf Diebel, chief development officer for DreamStream. "
The MPAA understands the need to be proactive - rather than reactive -- in addressing the chokehold that piracy has on the motion picture industry. Their recommendation is not something that Hollywood will take lightly."
On June 27, 2008, Krishnan Rajagopalan, the MPAA's vice president of digital media technologies, announced the MPAA's intent to recommend DreamStream's file streaming technology to the major motion picture studios.
The MPAA reports that the major motion picture studios lose more than $6 billion every year because of piracy alone."DreamStream has developed a very unique technology that is extremely important in our industry, because of copyright infringement," said Michael Jay Solomon, founder of Solomon Entertainment Enterprises. "It will allow the content providers to recoup the billions of dollars that they are loosing right now."
Solomon, a veteran of the entertainment industry, co-founded Telepictures Corp., and is the former president of both Lorimar Telepictures Corp. and Warner Bros. Television International.Laura Tunberg, MGM's former vice president of intellectual property enforcement, first introduced the MPAA to DreamStream's system in March of 2008. Since that time, the MPAA has reviewed the technology and found it to be a viable means for securing digital content, Solomon said."
We are very excited about our breakthrough technology. For the first time, digital content can be distributed without fear of piracy. By making it possible for studios and other copyright holders to secure their content, we can make it impossible for movies to be digitally pirated," said Diebel. "DreamStream can restore property rights to their owners and restore the commercial success of music and video recordings with a solution that benefits both producers and consumers."
In recent years, online media distribution systems, such as Apple's iTunes, have continually fallen prey to digital piracy. DreamStream claims to have the solution to this dilemma."The existing systems are broken," said Diebel. "If studios and artists want to confront the problem of piracy they must embrace a comprehensive restructuring of their distribution methods."
The MPAA was attracted to DreamStream's system because it differs from existing products and services in several ways. Most noteworthy, DreamStream's system operates via online streaming and not file downloads. As such, purchased content cannot be stored on users' hard disks, which eliminates the possibility of copying or redistributing the digital files.
Because the content does not have to be downloaded, DreamStream's technology is able to transmit media files at such higher qualities than are currently being offered by DreamStream's competitors. With only a 4 Mbps Internet connection, DreamStream's system is able to provide consumers with HD quality content.
Unique to DreamStream's technology is the instant availability of the digital content offered. While most media systems require download or processing delays, DreamStream's system is able to offer its users instant access to digital content.
DreamStream's technology also features encryption that greatly exceeds current standards. While existing online media distribution systems are typically secured using only 128 bit encryptions, DreamStream touts a full 20-round, 2048 bit encryption, which is the strongest in the industry. To date, DreamStream is the only company to offer the protection of military grade encryption in the online delivery of streaming media.DreamStream's unpublished encryption has never been compromised by hackers or digital pirates."
To win the war on piracy, the studios need DreamStream's military grade capabilities," said Diebel.
DreamStream's file streaming system is one of the many uses for the company's encryption technologies. DreamStream's encryption can be imbedded into any online or computer-based system. DreamStream is currently developing a secured, low-cost, high-definition disc-based system to rival Sony's Blu-ray technology.
