Why I Support New DRM Standard for Oscar Screeners

Over the holiday weekend, the AP reported that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the people who bring you the Oscars) were considering a new anti-piracy technology that would include giving Academy voters special hardware to play DVDs keyed for a single player in order to thwart screener piracy (Studios Eye New Anti-Piracy Technology). Ed Felten explains why this might work as a security tchnology for Academy screeners, but not for mass-market DVDs (Fancy DRM For Academy Screeners?).

I must say, I applaud these efforts by the MPAA to act consistently (Props for Jack Valenti). It may not keep their films from getting onto the internet, but it demonstrates that they aren't hypocrites. Read on for some other reasons (in no particular order) I applaud this move:

• It is a tacit acknowledgment that movie industry insiders are a significant part of the online movie infringement problem.
• It is a tacit acknowledgement that CSS encryption for DVDs no longer has significant piracy-fighting capability even for such limited distribution.
• It treats Academy members the same as consumers, like criminals.
• Academy viewers will have to deal with many of the frustrations of DRM'd equipment (incompatibility, higher probability of service requirements).
• A seemingly minor, but important perk goes away. Academy viewers will have to deal with the prohibitions on sharing that Hollywood wants to impose on consumers generally. Even Valenti bragged that he (and many others) would let friends and family borrow screeners:

  [M]ost of [the recipients of screeners], as I did, gave some movies to relatives and friends who in turn gave them to friends, who gave them to friends...

  I doubt Academy viewers are going to appreciate not being able to share with friends and family, sort of like how the broadcast flag will keep people from sharing recorded TV episodes with friends and family.

And hey, while we're at it, why not a few more restrictions to protect the content? I see no reason that screeners should function after Academy voting is completed, so why not have the players burn out their EEPROM after a secure clock shows that voting is over? This will let Academy voters experience yet another proposed type of DRM that will force content expiration unless the system is constantly in communication with a central licensing authority.