DRM slowing video on the net

Speaking at the VON conference in San Francisco, BitTorrent's creator Bram Cohen told an audience of technology pros that DRM is slowing the adoption of video on the internet.

Reported by EETimes, Cohen told the audience:

"We've got a problem we share with everyone. Content owners want a DRM, consumers know what a DRM is and they don't like it... We are using Windows DRM because it is the only solution that has been vetted widely, but we are not happy with how it affects playback from a technology point of viewit sometimes makes playback not work."

BitTorrent now pushes out legitimate content to users who are willing to pay for it. Movie rentals and TV purchases are controlled by Windows Media DRM, which obviously cuts out much of the open source and Mac community that helped build BitTorrent's popularity.

The site, Cohen said, is starting to roll out new technologies including streaming video and a free, advertising supported distribution service.

This is just the latest incident in a sustained campaign against DRM in recent months. Consumer advocates and even some artists are starting to rally against the restrictive technologies on music and video.

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