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EFF Challenges Adobe On Flash DRM
David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-02-21
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Digital rights management technology being applied to Flash will limit what can be done with streamed Flash content. The EFF questioned the practice, but we think it's here to stay.
 | | EFF Challenges Adobe On Flash DRM |  |
Stuffing DRM into Flash may look like an impediment to fair use, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Seth Schoen suggested on EFF Deeplinks. Schoen argues it won't stop copyright infringement from taking place, which is nominally the aim of DRM systems.
DRM restriction technology arrived with Flash Player 9 and Flash Media Server version 3. "Adobe, or customers using Flash Media Server 3, can try to shut down users who break the encryption without having to prove that the users are doing anything copyright-infringing," said Schoen.
"Even if users aren't targeted directly, technology developers may be threatened and the technologies the users need driven underground," he continued.
We're going to put forth a theory that Adobe's DRM endeavor on Flash will prove to be a good thing, indirectly, over time. Though this may sound counter-intuitive, Hollywood will ultimately play a role in ending the DRM Adobe unleashed.
During the Hollywood writer strike, I talked with KFWB 980 reporter Sharon Katchen about the impact of the Internet on the future of writers. The Internet offered writers a level of control over what they create that they could never have with the studios, and it would be a matter of time before a talented A-list screenwriter or two decided to take a shot at content creation.
Not long after that, news emerged that several groups of writers were going to do just that. They planned to team up with financial backers and see what they might accomplish online.
Most of the interview I did had to be trimmed to fit time constraints, as is usual. One of the bits that did not make it into the broadcast was about distributing the content, where I mentioned Adobe and some aggressive price cutting they did with Flash Media Server.
I suggested that the move could be one to facilitate more writer independence. The management capabilities for placing ads with content distributed by the Adobe product, along with keeping ads with viral videos and protecting them, would appeal to these nascent publishers who have always ceded such control to the studios.
Even if the DRM is imperfect, or even problematic at this stage, it's still important as people step into the Internet with the intent of doing well-written, compelling video content. Hate DRM as much as you like, it's necessary now.
How to rationalize this, you may wonder, assuming you haven't dashed off a flame email to me already? Look at the music industry. DRM on music really only existed for a few years. Now anyone can go online and buy DRM-free music from the major labels.
Consumer demand forced DRM on music to collapse under its inherent flaws. The labels needed to have it until they could admit to themselves they didn't need it.
That's what the future of Flash DRM looks like to us. Once talented writers become profitable ones online, and see DRM as a hindrance to greater profitability, the model will change. It will take some time, as it did with the music industry, but when it does, Adobe will tout it as an exciting update to its business.
Eventually, everybody wins.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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