Open Media, with DRM?
The newly-announced Open Media Network bills itself as the future of public tv and radio, and looks something like OurMedia – producers can upload content and have it hosted for free.
A system that uses the Internet for distribution and allows creative workers to be compensated for their sound and moving image productions could be a good thing. And OMN promises to do this. But the press release shows the kind of schizophrenia that results when “open” and “commercial” get too close to each other:
“Because OMN uses Kontiki’s grid delivery technology, all content is centrally managed. Programs which violate copyright or are unsuitable for viewing can be removed from the network. Kontiki’s battle-tested technology has built-in digital rights management (DRM) through support of the Microsoft Windows Rights Manager and allows publishers to choose whether content can be shared, duplicated or viewed a set number of times. Future versions of OMN, due this summer, will offer producers a secure payment system for premium content.”
“All content is centrally managed” with “battle-tested technology?” “Programs….unsuitable for viewing can be removed from the network?” And it’s all Windows-only?
That doesn’t sound open.
OMN has some smart people behind it, and its p2p approach to media distribution is right. It could even make a good platform for broadcasters like Current.tv and for archives that want to make programming available. But asking everyone to download yet another client app just to view video will be a hard sell, especially if the same material is available elsewhere in genuinely open formats.