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To: Steve 667 who wrote (15761)	10/19/2000 11:05:05 AM
From: Steve 667	Respond to of 60323

I think I know why it is called a "secure digital media card"! It is secure, because nobody knows how it works! Steve 667

To: Steve 667 who wrote (15761)	10/19/2000 11:10:29 AM
From: Tumbleweed	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Steve, you are 100% right about copy protection ....since you agree with me? <VBG> Look what happened to DivX when the media industry tried to foist a copy protected, limited ownership model on the public. People voted with their wallets. They will do the same thing if Sony (or whoever) tries to sell them a solid state 'CD' at probably the same price, but with all sorts of restrictions on it. It wont work. But these guys are too dumb to see that. So Secure cards, Data Play, anything else similar will fail, as a delivery mechanism for copy protected media . They may work in other scenarios, for example software delivery, or just standard storage of non-copy protected stuff. BTW, it doesnt, IIRC, have your credit card number embedded in the card. Its just that the contents are somehow keyed to that particular disc or card, with some way of making sure that if you extract them, they wont work away from the card. Probably via a secure player, for example, this is how DVD works today, witness all the fuss over DecCSS or whatever its called. Tw

To: Steve 667 who wrote (15761)	10/19/2000 6:21:29 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

Steve, I admit I do not have a technical understanding of secure digital, but this is pretty much what has been described in press releases and other material when the cards were first announced. You wonder whether something like this would attract customers, and I do too. But consider that this standard was developed through well coordinated meetings between companies like SanDisk, Matsushita (Panasonic), and Toshiba, and music publishers and recording artists. There was general consensus that this was the most useful and practical design that still protected copyrights, if the artist or publisher wanted those protections. The manufacturers and publishers, in order to make sure everything was coordinated, formed an association called the Secure Digital Industry Association, and it includes almost all the key players, except Sony. Sony has chosen to create its own format, using the MemoryStick as the storage medium. When its version of a secure format was tested, many people found it was a real hassle. It has few, if any proponents other than Sony. Before you give up on SD, remember that if an artist waives copyright protection, there are no restrictions on copying a particular file with such a waiver. If an artist wants what in the practical everyday world will amount to a toke fee to copy a file, then that alternative is available in a form that is not all that difficult for the average user to handle. ABOVE ALL, THOSE WHO ADOPT SECURE DIGITAL WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. Everything is a compromise, but this one makes sense to me. Art