AMD Adds Secure Video Playback To Their Open-Source Linux Driver

[muncrief]

Really? The reality is though that if it wasn't for iOS, we'd still be trying to reverse engineer ActiveX and Flash plugins to surf the web.

Well, I doubt that. But even if it were true we'd be spending three to four times as much for everything involving personal computers, or we'd be forced to simply read newspapers. Seriously, the pricing and profit margins for Apple have always been obscene. And Apple is actually quite bold and proud of it, touting it to investors as their ultimate "strength."

But I never fell for the hype, and preferred to spend a reasonable amount of money for superior hardware and infinitely greater choice. And I was willing to live with an inferior underlying OS compared to Unix/Linux, but what I felt was a much better GUI and user experience.

I understand others differ, and the bottom line is that I'm not a Mac or Windows enthusiast. I feel Linux is heads and tails superior to both of them, but unfortunately suffers from developer infighting, the never ending arguments between purely open source and partially closed source, and GUI fragmentation. However each of those issues also partially contribute to the reason it has become so awesome, and I'm willing to take the bad with the good. Reality often demands tension between opposing forces, and I believe this is one of those all too often case studies.

[OneTimeShot]

So this means an open source driver contained in the Kernel is monitoring our identity (or a fingerprint related to it) for DRM purposes?

Not really. The way it works (as I understand it) is that the encrypted media bitstream is sent directly to the graphics card, which handles all of the decoding process up to pasting the visible of the bitmap on the HDMI cable, after having checked that your monitor is approved.

The "identifier" is the a private key stored in the GPU that you get when you log into Netflix (or whatever). If you dig around Chrome settings you'll find the controls under "Privacy/Security -> Protected Content". It's somewhat less scary than standard cookies, really...

[klokik]

Will that stop anyone from capturing video output from, say eDP interface? Or the use of HDCP would be mandatory soon for all pannels? What about other video interfaces: DSI or even good old VGA? Netflix would complain that my display is not secure enough?

This thing is pointless: there would always a way to pirate video, making it harder has limits: at some point, it starts to bring more inconvenience to legit users than inconveniences to pirates, And I'm afraid that point has been passed long ago.

[wizard69]

I agree that Apple has become a terrible example of a company. How much of that happened after jobs is an open question, I do know that they have become far worse after his death.

However that doesn't dismiss my point, which striving for Linux to be like Windows is foolish. Mac OS is a far higher quality OS than Windows so Linux should strive for that quality. There is a lot of interest in competing with Windows which is good but you don't compete by emulating, you compete by becoming a better solution.

So in some ways Linux is pretty close but in other regards it is so far behind I'm not sure it will every catch up. A perfect example here is the use of C or C++ for applications development. That is just asinine.

I always disliked Macs because of the outrageous prices, exacerbated by their closed eco system. I observed Steve Jobs both before he was fired, and after. Before he was fired he really seemed to want to help the world, but unfortunately after he was fired and rehired he became a greedy monster that cared only for himself. And since then I felt he wasn't so much a marketing genius as he was an unscrupulous shyster.

And I'm not trying to start a flame war here with Mac enthusiasts, that's just the way I genuinely feel. I don't like greed and dishonesty, personally or in business. I prefer those who strive to procure a reasonable profit, with honesty and goodwill. If Mr. Jobs had done that he would have won many more people over.

[wizard69]

I understand others differ, and the bottom line is that I'm not a Mac or Windows enthusiast. I feel Linux is heads and tails superior to both of them, but unfortunately suffers from developer infighting, the never ending arguments between purely open source and partially closed source, and GUI fragmentation. However each of those issues also partially contribute to the reason it has become so awesome, and I'm willing to take the bad with the good. Reality often demands tension between opposing forces, and I believe this is one of those all too often case studies.

I have hardware I work with from all three niches. An Iphone because at the moment it is the best choice for me. At work we have Windows no mater how much it is hated. At home I'm running Linux on PC like hardware. I can work with any of these but I really think that Linux trials by a long ways when compared to Mac OS and in some respects to Windows. In the long run I see Linux being the traditional OS solution. However there is little happening with Linux that leads me to believe that it will survive the transition to AI based systems.

[OneTimeShot]

Seriously, the pricing and profit margins for Apple have always been obscene. And Apple is actually quite bold and proud of it, touting it to investors as their ultimate "strength.".

Yes: that is what Jobs was trying to do, though. He decided to sell computers in the same way as jewelry was in the past. That was while everyone else was doubling their transistor count every other year, and competing on who could build the cheapest, most shoddy plastic box.

He probably was an a***... but at the end of the day when he was around, Apple shipped the first consumer windowing GUI, computers as an "art piece", the music player that everyone wanted, the smart phone GUI, the tablet. Gadgets that for the first time were not geeky. On a technical side: personal computers running Unix, modern music purchasing, the first AppStore, an entire integrated user ecosystem from shops to online credit card.

It's pointless trying to pretend that he didn't exist or dismissing the impact he had (and certainly now that Apple hasn't done anything in years, you can't say that he had nothing to do with the creativity). It's a bit like saying "we'd have electric cars and commercial space travel without Elon Musk"...

[OneTimeShot]

Will that stop anyone from capturing video output from, say eDP interface?.

Yup. If you don't have HDCP end to end, you don't get the protected video. In practice at the moment you just get restricted to lower quality video from Netflix, though...

[dev_null]

a really bad feature in linux world. the level is the same as having binary firmware blobs.

[[email protected]]

About low quality (720p) videos on Netflix, there is a extension for Firefox called "netflix 1080p" that can successfully unlock the 1080p stream for you.

[Tim Blokdijk]

Now, who doesn't like a little risky unprotected and insecure video playback on shady websites?
Just kidding. I wonder how effective it will be to prevent people from ripping a stream.