Sony wants to disable your electronics without your permission.

[computoman]

It was bad enough that Sony put drm crap on our computers without our permission, now they want to disable are electronic equipment so they can have more sales. if they try to do that with our equipment, they are going to have a Texas size fight. It time to teach them a lesson. Please contact the FCC and let them know of your disdain for this outright illegal action. Sony lost me as a customer.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/02/sony-not-giving-up-on-selectable-output-control.ars

[tokenuser]

Re-read the article.

Sony want to have the ability to selectively disable the analogue output of digital media.

So, if you are playing a Bluray disc, the disc will only output on HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) conforming outputs. They are not proposing disabling the device, or disabling the analog outputs entirely, but disabling them selectively on a per disc/broadcast time.

Eitherway it sucks, but it is nowhere near as sensational as you are making out.

[ArmpitOfDeath]

Sony lost me as a customer

I don't think Sony cares what you buy from Craigslist yard sales.


But back to the their position, it's unavoidable with the pies they have their fingers in. I took part in discussions with Sony in the pre-iPod, post-millennium days regarding their emerging music players as well as SonicStage and their overruling mentality was, and is still, as a content producer. Which is funny because that's what killed them in the iPod wars and made otherwise compelling products useless from the consumer point of view.

SOC is a slippery slope - because it not only (reasonably) restricts piracy of high-def content, but also allows cable and other companies to restrict what your home recording equipment can and can't record. Remember the huge furore over the Broadcast Flag being 'accidentally' activated a while back on some US channels? With SOC it doesn't have to be activated, not when the equipment you're using tells you that you can't record it. This makes, as it says in the article, a whole bunch of computer-based DVR's becoming immensely useless.

This means also, for example, Sling is effed unless they make some sort of deal / change. It wouldn't be bad if the content producers actually knew how to offer content, but their half-usable results always come as a knee-jerk reaction to competition. SOC would force competition in terms of redirecting content into the underground if the competition doesn't join the club on the MPAA's own terms.

While 'Warlock' computoman's comments are as usual off-base, this is definitely not just a piece of minor suckage, it's an Extremely Bad Thing. I think it does deserve to be hyped more, just not with his spin on it.

[heyseuss]

Re-read the article.

I was hip to his mis-understanding when he said 'sony put drm on your computer'.

[computoman]

The state of California did file suit against Sony for their malware illegally on users systems. It is a fact, not fiction. I do not care what someone thinks Sony will do. IT is in black and white they do intend to disable analog outputs in hardware not just how certain media is displayed. Newer media devices do have computers and are programmable. It not like the old days when the tv was just a hard wired boob tube.

[comhcinc]

of course they could just make products without analog outputs, which i am sure we will see in the next five years any way. so yeah no big deal.

[bigshotprof]

After a few months, most of My Sony products disable themselves.