I hit the forums to see if others have the same problems that I have and I’ve found that many people have begun reporting the problem from around May of this year.  Not being one to give up, I decided to test things a bit to see what apple.com was doing.

I installed the useragent switcher on Firefox and switched my agent to Windows Vista and IE7.  I then watched headers as apple once again denied me despite my agent being accepted by it.  It seems that it is looking for an actual install of Quicktime on your system (I can’t tell you for sure, I just know that useragent isn’t what it is sniffing for).

How does one circumvent?  Pretty simple.  When you are given that denied message “Get the Latest Quicktime”, go to View >> Page Source.  Look for a URL that ends in .mov.  Copy that URL and paste it into a new tab.  That’s it,  you’re now watching the trailer.

I want to thank Apple for being exclusionary to Linux users when you benefit so greatly from Open Source software.  It sets a great example and shows what is really important to you as a company…and that is forcing your software onto everyone similar to Microsoft.

UPDATE:  I wanted to let everyone know my platform since everyone seems to think I’m silly enough to blog about this without installing the proper codecs.  I use PCLinuxOS 2007 as my main workhorse distro.  The apple trailers site worked for me previously until I recently checked it.  I’ve updated this
to current and have all codecs installed (w32codecs, mplayer, xine,
gstreamer, etc.).  I have uninstalled, reinstalled, and tweaked
everything I can think of tweaking to get this working.  Nothing thus
far works.  I should note that this is with Firefox 3 and I’m not sure
if that has anything to do with things.

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Apple Denies Linux Access To Its Movie Trailers originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on July 30, 2008.

I talked about what a crock they had begun to simmer with a Windows only version a few weeks ago. Glad to see that they have understood that the benefits outweigh the caveats many times over.

It’s much like standards compliant web pages…you only limit yourself by making your page non-compliant…because it won’t display in all browsers. You lose business if you have an ecommerce site…you lost hits if you have a blog. The BBC now understands that by limiting the ability of those to use its player, it shut the door to those users. It also knows that a network of bloggers is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Whether Linux and Mac users be a small number or a large number, the BBC has set precedent here that I hope they follow in the future. Keep Open BBC!

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Follow-Up: BBC Caves on iPlayer – Linux Support Added originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on December 14, 2007.

We’re not as far off as you may imagine.

Websites we visit tell us what browsers we must use to visit. Software tells us what operating system we must use to install it. CD’s tell us that we cannot use music that we’ve bought and own. Televisions will soon tell us that we must have cable as over the air broadcasting of free television ceases in 2012. Your Miranda rights no longer exist according to the Patriot Act; they only have to label you a terrorist and you can be held without charge indefinitely.

It’s a wide scope of things to swallow that ranges from technology to social, political and economic portions of our world. How does one combat these issues? How do we make a difference? While I cannot speak for things of which I don’t know (mainly, political and socio-economic things) I can speak of some technology issues that we can adress.

A recent issue that has cropped up is with the BBC. The BBC is a publically funded broadcast corporation in the United Kingdom. That means the general public in the UK may elect to pay a fee resulting that they have access equally across the board to view content. Content here will mean any content whether online or broadcasted. The BBC takes money equally from all people regardless of race, creed, color, AND regardless of what operating system they run. As such, all people should have an equal opportunity to view said content.

Recently, they announced they would be creating an online video player that supports all operating systems, only to backpedal and state that Linux would not be supported. Now they’re also including DRM in much of their web based content. No problem? Actually, yes, there is a huge problem.

THE PROBLEM

I’m fairly fond of pointing out the blatantly obvious. What is obvious to me is that the BBC is making a HUGE mistake by not making their platform OS neutral. First off, they’re requiring that all users purchase and use Microsoft Operating Systems. This means that even those that cannot afford the 300 plus USD price tag must somehow find a way to get it…most will pirate it I’m sure.

Contained on the BBC’s info page is a nice quote:

“The BBC is run in the interests of its viewers and listeners.”

That is, unless you’re using Linux and Macs…then your interests do not matter. Why don’t they matter? Because the reasoning behind why the BBC won’t support Mac and Linux platforms makes no sense…that reasoning is (paraphrasing) money is tight and we don’t have enough Linux/Mac users visiting the site to provide for.

Right.

So, using this logic, operating systems shouldn’t be built with support for the handicapped either…because there are more people who aren’t handicapped (blind, deaf, or other which hinders OS interaction). So, the BBC shouldn’t support that minuscule % of users. But of course, they can’t do this as eliminating support for these people would be first, incomprehensible and wrong, but also because they have an obligation to the public which they serve to provide this service.

They have that same obligation to users of different operating systems.

I know for a fact that it’s easy to provide for users of all operating systems (part of my job is making sure webpages and code are standards compliant). I know it’s easy to provide for users of multiple browsers. You follow something called W3C standards, you’re set. You design a player in Flash or Java which is cross platform and you’re set. It seems this is a bit difficult for the BBC to grasp which is very sad.

Instead, they adopt a schema for DRM and embed them into all of their videos. Fantastic! Not only do they alienate their users by providing a Windows-Centric experience (locking their users to an insecure platform chock full of Trojans, spyware, and virus’) but they also control the media they offer for download that users have already paid for!

It’s like buying a car and being told you can only drive on certain roads at certain times. You’ve paid for the car, but someone else is trying to tell you how you can use and operate the car. The BBC is using DRM and subsequently by doing so, will be lumped into a group with all the others out there that use DRM to control users and content.

THE RESPONSE

The latest blog entry on the BBC apologizes to Linux users…but still tries to justify DRM. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. There is NO justification to DRM at all. There cannot be. You are managing something that is not yours to manage. You cannot tell me that if I buy some type of goods/service from someone that you should control how I consume or use that good/service. That’s because, in doing so, the enforcer of said “Rights” becomes a Central Planning entity. DRM is just like Communism. Absolute DRM corrupts Absolutely. The BBC should not be synonymous with DRM.

If you were the BBC and all it took was to make a standards compliant cross platform iPlayer or even to sponsor a community developed one, wouldn’t you do it? What would it cost? Well, probably less than the direction that the BBC’s head Ashleigh Highfield is saying they’re going:

“I will also kick off a piece of research to look into the size and more importantly the growth of the open source community within the UK, and what role the BBC could and should have in promoting it.”

So instead of actually having foresight and just creating a cross platform, cross operating system program, you’re going to waste money by creating some form of investigative committee or outsourcing study of the number Linux/Mac users to see when the number of users finally crosses some invisible threshold to be given no discrimination as to what operating system they run. Do you think that sinking money into having more people continually investigate this will be less than doing it right the first time? I don’t think so.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The ultimate reason they’re wrong is that they’re a provider of a service…television. Essentially, they’re telling their users what brand of television they need to hook up in order to watch their content. They’re reaching their hands into the homes of 17.1 million users and demanding they use a certain type of operating system or they cannot use the content when it is simple to provide for everyone using open formats and cross platform, cross operating system tools and programs.

As a comment posted on Mr. Highfield’s blog entry states, “The BBC Charter runs for ten years. Can you really say you know what OS and platforms people will be using in a decade? That’s a rhetorical “no” by the way.” The BBC is digging itself into a hole with this move. Their ultimate goal should be to serve the public through neglecting no one. Instead, they’re severing the public through rights control. Everyone who pays the license fee has thus equal rights to access that content and the BBC would do well to remember this instead of trying to walk on this right.

The BBC should be told why this is wrong. Do you have something to say to them? If so, send them why you feel what they’re doing is wrong. Contact them here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

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Linux, the BBC and Your Rights originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on November 8, 2007.

A few months back, despite life threatening illness, Ken aka helios DROVE from Texas to Washington D.C. to talk to congressmen and women about DRM and TC. He did this on a shoestring budget because he knew the Linux community was counting on him to do something about legislation (he had raised money for the trip and felt obligated to go)…and he’d made a promise. That kind of drive and compassion you don’t find much in people…sure they can have a great opinion about something…but many sit on their hands and shout the opinions. Actions speak louder than words and Ken aka Helios is FULL of action.

Helios was speaking out against trusted computing (TC) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) that is humming softly at the hardware and software level inside YOUR computer right now. That’s right! Chances are, it’s already made it on a chip on your and my motherboards…but it’s there. Soon, if what can happen does happen…we’ll all be so very unhappy at being told how we can and can’t operate our PCs.

Some of you may be asking, “what the heck are you talking about? They can’t tell me how I can use my computer inside my own home”. Unfortunately, that statement is false. DRM chips are already on a majority of motherboards and even built into some processors (viiv anyone?). All it takes is a flip of the switch and you’ll do what Microsoft or any other company that wants to manage your rights for you tells you to do whether you like it or not. That is, of course, unless you use Linux Linux has always been about choice…we choose to compute in ways WE want to…not ways that are defined for us. If we don’t like something, we code it different ourselves and then release the change…chances are, someone else thinks like you do and will like that change also. With Windows, that’s not possible…you’re locked from the start…so you’ll be locked to the finish as well.

Trusted Computing is not about trust. It’s about NOT trusting. Companies do not trust consumers to allow them to compute on their own…see, companies think consumers need help…AND THEY want to be the ones helping…for a fee of course (whether license or support). Really, it comes down to money. Companies have found a way they can make a ton of money and they’re going to exploit it and bleed it dry.

What I find odd is that people actually put up with this. They pay the royalty fees. They pay the license fee. It’s sad to watch. Perhaps if we put this in a different perspective, you’d see why I say it’s so sad to watch. Clear your mind for a moment and picture this:

You go down to the Chevy/Ford/Toyota/Honda (pick one) dealership and decide to buy a car this weekend. You walk the lot pausing ever so slightly at the truck/car/SUV (pick one) that interests you. Man that baby is sweet. You hash out the price and go through the pains of negotiation with the salesperson. Finally, the price, interest rate, and payment plan are just right and you decide to go for it. You sign the papers, dot the “i’s” and lower case “j’s” and you’re in business. A week goes by and your car/truck/SUV is operating at a great level. It’s all you ever dreamed of. That is of course until you try to drive it on Interstate 95 inside North Carolina….that’s when the engine just shuts down and won’t turn over.

So you bring the car/truck/SUV back in to the dealer and ask them what the heck is going on. Little did you know that you’re not allowed to drive your car/truck/SUV in North Carolina because you didn’t pay the license fee to do so. You’re now being told HOW you can use the truck YOU ALREADY BOUGHT. You’re being told the way in which you should utilize a tool that gets you from point A to point B. The dealership/manufacturer is now telling you WHERE, maybe even WHEN, you can or can’t operate your vehicle in a certain area. Idiotic eh? That’s what is happening with computers. If you don’t think so…think about DVD regions…you can’t play American DVD’s in Africa and vice versa…it’s against the law. And that’s after you bought the silly DVD.

Soon, very soon, we’ll once again be entrenched in a battle of DRM and TC…these things go in waves…and it seems Novell and Microsoft have stolen the headlines until next year. While the war waged earlier this year…it has not come full circle. Many people are unaware of the fight and the implications of this battle and what they may lose personally if the war is lost. Hopefully, you understand a bit better now. I didn’t set this article out to tell you what RC and DRM are all about…just what impact they can have on YOU and ME as people. To me, it’s more of an impact than it should be and it’s an outright invasion of my privacy to be told how I can and can’t use my own computer that I built with my own two hands. If you’d like to get more involved in the fight against DRM and TC, phone your representatives in Washington or visit Helios’ site linked in the first paragraph. It’s up to you…you can compute on YOUR terms with Linux…or continue on the path that Redmond has mapped out for you.

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Who do You Trust with Your Computing? originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on December 8, 2006.

When his defense asked,”Which computer has Jon [DVD Jon] trespassed upon?” the answer was: “His own.”

Once upon a time there was a man named Frank. Frank was just like any other Frank, albeit a bit more cynical and curious. Frank was walking through the park one day when he happened upon a curious sight of a glowing doorway. Being curious, he investigated this curious phenomenon with infinite impetuosity. Unbeknownst to him, this doorway led to the future. The sights he beheld on the other side of this time warp doorway continued to pique his innate curiosity. Frank wanted to know what was going on at the other side of this door and he quietly slid through it.

Frank was astounded at what he saw. There were no cars on the road. People were walking everywhere. He grabbed a newspaper that blew slowly past him on the wind and was surprised that the date was 10 years ahead of the date he saw in his morning newspaper. Frank quickly came to terms with what had just happened…he had found a doorway through time which propelled him 10 years into the future.

He sat down on a bench with millions of thoughts whizzing through his brain. Questions began popping in his thoughts. He decided to investigate this future world so that he could find out where society was headed.

Frank quickly located someone walking by, stood up and asked the question, “Excuse me but, I don’t see any vehicles, why is that?”

The person looked at Frank with wide eyes and said, “Well, no one uses vehicles anymore since the RM Movement restricts types that can be used in different regions of the country”

“RM Movement?”

“Yes, Rights Management Movement. A few years ago, the Digital Rights Management act was passed which allowed for the regulation of consumers right to use digital media as they saw fit in the privacy of their own home. This paved the way for the Rights Management Act to go into effect a few years later.”

“But I don’t understand…this is America right? There’s no way we could restrict rights like this.”

The person responded in kind, “It was much easier when the Patriot Act became permanent.”

Frank pondered the point a minute and asked, “But this still doesn’t explain where the vehicles went!”

“Well, yes it does. With Rights Management, vehicle manufacturers required that you register the vehicle with them and buy a license to operate that vehicle on top of the operators license the government has. This license limits you to drive their cars in certain areas of the United States. This is one of those areas. For example, you can’t drive Fords in Kentucky since its region code is a 2, which is for Chevy’s only.”

“Region codes?” Frank interrupted. “You mean like DVD’s?”

“Yes, region codes like DVDs…although Blu-Ray and HD-DVD antiquated the region requirement for media, automotive manufacturers picked up the region idea from DVDs. The US has been divided up into regions where rights are managed according to physical location. Companies purchase rights in these different regions through the government so that their products can be sold and used in these regions.”

“But how can they expect to tell me what to do with something that I BOUGHT?” Frank exclaimed

“Well, they started it with Digital Rights Management. DVD’s and Music were first and since these are just creative works…the Rights Management spread to other creative works. Since an automobile is just a product of manufacture like a computer or DVD player the line was blurred as to how much control companies could put on their products. With the DRM Act, you couldn’t play a DVD on any player other than the ones approved of by that DVD company…they regulated where and how you could play it”

“But that’ s idiotic” Frank said, “I bought the stinkin’ thing, I should be able to do whatever I want with it after I buy it. If I want to use it as a Frisbee or drive it off a cliff, I should be able to do so!”

“With the DRM and RM Acts, you can’t. The company reserves the right to have you use their product the way they intended it to be used.”

“But doesn’t this stifle creativity?” Frank asked. “Doesn’t this limit things considerably? For example, Post Its would never have been invented because they used an adhesive that was already available right? So that would have been illegal because the adhesive wasn’t being used in the right way and if 3M didn’t own the adhesive..”

“Well,” the person responded, “if Post Its had been invented after this act and 3M didn’t own the adhesive, I guess they’d have been outlawed…but since it happened before, they slip past regulation.”

Frank was perplexed. How could this happen in today’s society. What had happened? This Rights Management thing sounded absolutely asinine to him yet to the person he was speaking with was obviously telling him “how it was”.

The person shrugged at Frank and moved on toward their destination. Frank was again confused at the prospect of having this much control enacted on citizens in a free society. He decided to investigate further. He noticed a row of small businesses or restaurants just down the street. He quickly walked into a small bookstore. Frank began thumbing through a couple of books looking for information on this Rights Management Act that he could read about.

“Can I help you?” said a voice from behind him.

“Yes,” replied Frank. “I’m looking for information about the Rights Management and Digital Rights Management Acts.”

The woman replied, “Oh, those will be plentiful…let’s go find you some good ones.” She pointed over toward a section of books. Frank eventually found all the books that he might need with information on these subjects. He brought his books up to the counter and the woman rang his purchases up.

“That will be $35.87.” Frank gave her two twenty dollar bills. The woman handed him a small stack of papers. “Please sign the license agreement.”

The look on Frank’s face must have told the woman enough because she automatically began to explain, “The license agreement is between you, the publisher, and the author of the works you are purchasing. Basically, what it does is regulate how you can use these books. For instance, you can’t loan this book to a friend after you buy it because that would be against the law. You also can’t resell these books online or anywhere else for that matter…you are required to be licensed in order to sell these books. All of this is covered in the books you’re purchasing about the Rights Management and Digital Rights Management Acts.”

Frank quickly asked, “Why can’t I lend this book to a friend? What if someone in my house wants to read it? You mean to tell me I can’t let them read it or I’ll face fines?”

“Not fines, jail time. The MPAA and RIAA lobbied for stricter penalties for sharing music and movies to discourage that sharing. Since these two areas received stiffer penalties the idea spread over to books which are similar to music and movies being works of art and creativity. I guess with digital books becoming quite popular they just needed a ‘catch all’ so this license agreement was born. Books in print and e-books just fell into place along with music and movies.”

Frank’s jaw hit the floor. Here he was being told that he couldn’t lend a book…a book that he purchased…to a friend. He couldn’t go online to half.com or amazon and sell his book after he was done reading it. This kind of control was stifling. It reminded him much of socialist economies he read about in Economics class…but this was the United States wasn’t it? This crap couldn’t fly right?

“What if I don’t want to sign the license agreement?”

“No books I’m afraid. I can’t afford to be brought up on charges of selling a book without the license agreement”

“Why do you do it anyway?” Frank asked. “Doesn’t this go against the proliferation of reading and books?”

“Well, I get a cut of the profit the publisher and author make so not only do I get back cost of the book, but I also get part of the license fee” the woman replied.

Frank stumbled out of the bookstore. He knew things were bad with Digital Rights Management in his time but in this time 10 years in the future, things were downright horrible. He stumbled in the the media shop next door expecting to be waylaid by discoveries within.

“Can I help you?” the young counter clerk said to Frank.

“Not unless you can purge RM from the earth,” Frank mumbled.

“Excuse me? I didn’t catch that”

“Nevermind, I’ve actually come in to buy a movie,” Frank lied, attempting to see how far down the rabbit hole he could go. “What do you have for action/adventure?”

“Well sir, that entire section over there is Action/Adventure. What format are you looking for? VOD? Blu-Ray? HD-DVD?

“Gee, uh…VOD? What’s that?”

“Video on demand sir. We can set you up with an account right here and then you’ll be able to download the movie to your computer or media center and watch the movie right there.”

Frank skeptically looked at the clerk. “So what’s the catch?”

“Catch sir?”

“Yes, catch. What limitations do I have with the movie?”

“Oh, right sir. The movie can only be watched on a single PC. You can’t remove that video from your PC under penalty of law. You’ll also have to agree to this license agreement stating so.”

Bingo, Frank thought. “So, I can’t ‘rent’ a VOD and watch it anywhere? I am limited to my PC?”

“Yes sir.”

“I can’t watch it at a friend’s house?”

“No sir…unless you physically bring the computer to your friends house”

What kind of sense does that make, Frank thought. “Ok, say I want Blu-Ray. What limitations do I have?”

“You have to have a Blu-Ray compatible device to play the disc and you have to have a television that supports HDCP.”

“How much are those?” Frank Wondered aloud.

“Well sir, they’re relatively inexpensive and just think of them as an investment.”

Frank had heard enough. It wasn’t enough for these DRM people to control where he could watch things, how he could watch them, if he could use the disc as a coaster or Frisbee or not…but they are telling him he had to purchase an approved device to watch them on?

“Well, thanks. I’m going to have to think about it,” Frank said as he exited the store.

Frank began to sprint back toward the park looking frantically for the doorway he walked through previously. Luckily, he found it and walked back through. The door sealed itself behind him. He took with him only one thing: A new found respect for freedom, right to privacy, and an extreme dislike for any company that tries to tell you what you can do with something you legally purchase from them.

Devnet

More Thoughts:
There is a major flaw in DRM…the flaw is DRM. Companies give you all the tools and expect you to not be curious or try to use the tools in ways in which they think you shouldn’t. Imagine if all screwdriver manufacturers sued consumers for using a flat head screwdriver as a wedge (crowbar) to open things because “it shouldn’t be used that way.” That’s what businesses are trying to do to us today…tell us how to use our computers and media.

Imagine if all vehicles in the world immediately all got the same gas mileage and couldn’t be changed unless you pay the company. If someone invented a new car that got better gas mileage should they be forced to conform to the crap gas mileage standard? That’s what DRM is trying to do, hold all consumers to one standard dictated by RIAA/MPAA, for RIAA/MPAA, and supporting the RIAA/MPAA. If they have their way, DRM will be built into Hardware (just like Microsoft is planning for Vista) and no one will be able to circumvent it. If you invent a new computer, you’ll be forced to conform to their idea of fairness otherwise you won’t be able to sell you computer. Stifling creativity, stifling free thought. Stifling your ability to compute on your own terms. Think about that for a while. If you don’t like it then let your voice be heard…contact your congressperson and tell them you don’t like it.

To quote Cory Doctorow from his speech to Microsoft at Redmond on June 17th, 2004:

“DRM systems are usually broken in minutes, sometimes days. Rarely, months. It’s not because the people who think them up are stupid. It’s not because the people who break them are smart. It’s not because there’s a flaw in the algorithms. At the end of the day, all DRM systems share a common vulnerability: they provide their attackers with ciphertext, the cipher and the key. At this point, the secret isn’t a secret anymore.”

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Once Upon a Time, in DRM Land originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on June 9, 2006.