Ubisoft’s DRM servers fail, while gamers say "We told you so!"
Gamers almost universally groaned when Ubisoft announced a new DRM scheme that requires its latest games, including Assassin’s Creed 2 and SIlent Hunter 5, to be connected to the Ubisoft servers to function. Everyone wondered, "What happens when the servers fail?" Well, we found out last weekend, when — surprise! — the servers temporarily went down, rendering legitimately-purchased copies of Ubisoft’s latest games temporarily unplayable.
Ubisoft’s initial excuse was that their games are too popular, and the overwhelming server loads apparently caused the downtime. Today, they reversed course and admitted that a DDoS attack had taken down the servers. Despite the fact that such an attack could happen again at any time, locking legitimate customers out, Ubi is sticking to its guns on the new DRM scheme for now. I hope that they take steps to secure their servers against another DDoS attack in the short term, and make a long term plan to drop this crazy DRM scheme altogether.
DRM Is Dead But Here Comes Variable Pricing
Digital Rights Management (DRM), at least as it relates to music, is finally taking a dirt nap. Apple’s iTunes Music Store is now 100 percent DRM-free. This morning, when I upgraded to the latest version of the iTunes software to buy the new album by Midival Punditz and Ursula 100, it seems all music is now DRM-free. Apple first announced in January 2009 and said it would introduce DRM-free iTunes in April 2009, starting with 8 million tracks and eventually making the entire library overtime.
All songs I buy from iTunes will play on most of my devices. Such as my Sonos Digital Music System. I think it’s a brilliant and much needed move, though I’m not sure I’m going to spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade to DRM-free version of my tunes. I mean I paid for them once; why pay again? Why not just make existing files DRM-free without making us pay up. It shouldn’t be that difficult to do.
The DRM-free iTunes however has its downsides, because with it has come with variable pricing, which includes paying $1.29 for some songs. These songs don’t have anything special about them, like special artwork or a higher bit rate. They just cost more because music industry executives say so.
See the full article at GigaOM.
NBC Direct Offers Free HD Downloads
Sure, almost all the offerings on NBC Direct can be watched at streaming site Hulu. But if you’re an HD fiend and want offline access, NBC Direct’s player might be worth checking out.
NBC Direct is definitely powered by DRM and ad-powered software, so if you’re not cool with that, well, you probably know a few other places to look (like, er, Hulu). But if you dig the idea of subscribing to, and downloading, HD-quality videos of your favorite NBC shows, it’s not a bad way of getting them guilt-free.
Installing NBC Direct means downloading a little applet, which then puts an add-on into your Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browser, and runs a system tray applet to download and watch shows offline. When you’re connected, it seems, you’re also a peer source for other NBC Direct users…
See the full article at LifeHacker.
YouTube introduces paid and free downloads
After years of trying to convince us that, no — we really shouldn’t want a way to watch YouTube content offline, the company has officially confirmed that they are rolling the ability to download YouTube videos. The program is still evolving, but right now, both free and paid downloads are available from a small list of providers.
I’m can’t help but be struck by a sense of déjà vu . If you recall, the now defunct Google Video initially offered paid downloads — it was an epic failure. I don’t want to be too quick to judge, but unless YouTube implements some changes, like FAST, it is going to end the same way.
See the full article at Download Squad.
