A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

by Volker Weber

Windows Vista includes an extensive reworking of core OS elements in order to provide content protection for so-called "premium content", typically HD data from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. Providing this protection incurs considerable costs in terms of system performance, system stability, technical support overhead, and hardware and software cost. These issues affect not only users of Vista but the entire PC industry, since the effects of the protection measures extend to cover all hardware and software that will ever come into contact with Vista, even if it's not used directly with Vista (for example hardware in a Macintosh computer or on a Linux server). This document analyses the cost involved in Vista's content protection, and the collateral damage that this incurs throughout the computer industry.

Repeat after me: DRM is bad for the customer.

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[via Miquel]

Comments

I see you cite the executive summary of the paper.

I prefer the executive executive summary.

Chris Linfoot, 2006-12-24

Repeat after me: Microsoft is bad for the customer.

Kristian Raue, 2006-12-24

Just shocking...

I wonder how successful Microsoft will be implementing this or if there will be a quick retreat due to bad market acceptance. Time will tell us soon.

Pieter Lansbergen, 2007-01-05

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