AT&T to Target Pirated Content

The media isn't as proprietary as the code is. Which is why you can't read the game on a standard PC DVD drive. That said, the consoles have got a cash cow on their hands. Sure, people are going to find ways to mod their xboxs and Wiis. However, the implications of doing that can be staggering. I have a modded xbox, and while I play single player games all the time, I am still forced to buy legal copies to play online and bypass the mod chip. I have a friend who has a Wii and he modded it, but there aren't many multiplayer games over the internet right now on the wii so its pretty safe so far.

PC Software, Mac Software, music, and movies are all a lot easier to pirate due to the tools that are available. These consoles are very proprietary to the point where you can maybe find ways to boot to a linux kernel on them and dump the info of a disk to the hard drive of a PC over the network. However, there are no "cracks" you can use to bypass the copy protection. Its amazing how a closed system can provide so much protection.

That we know about. I am sure it is a matter of time.

I've been saying this since the wiretapping issue came up.

1. Action: Agree to roll over for government and compromise your customers with no real complaints. Result: Get approved to grow through mergers and acquisitions for being a good dog.

2. Action: Take suggestions from Hollywood to compromise your customers privacy. Result: Lower bandwidth usage by both FUD and prosecuted end users, lowering overall costs. Possibly a Hollywood kickback in cheaper programming too.

3. Profit!

Whats next? Monitor peoples emails for Aunt Betty's cookie recipe and steal that?

There is nothing to see here, move along..........

Oh yea! They are out there, but a lot of people don't do them because of the downsides of installing that mod chip that is required to play those burned games. Online gaming is a huge force right now. Nerfing your PS3 or Xbox with a mod chip to play these burned games only to find out you can't play with your friends is a tough pill to swallow. That and the installation is not something just anyone can do. Anybody can apply a crack to a file or a fix to remove the activation of a piece of software. Not everyone feels comfortable soldering a chip onto their board.

First they take over Bellsouth and Cingular, now a$$ kissing the RIAA and MPAA, whats next? Takeover of the United States?

Oh wait... they already have

Only if they get a DMCA takedown notice.

This will be a slippery slope for them. Any attempt to police content will most likely result in them losing common carrier status under section 230 of the CDA ( »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co ··· tion_230 ).

Any attempt to provide data on a private users usage to a private company without a warrant or court order (or providing usage data to the private company so it can get a warrant) could be considered illegal wiretapping or at the very least an invasion of privacy and possibly a violation of their own written policies.

So the only safe thing for them to do is? I cant come up with one thing.

1. corporate
2. military
and
3. hollywood.

we are all screwed. its just a matter of when.

Great, I just switched to AT&T's IFITL (formerly, BellSouth). They'll monitor everything you do in order to implement this technology. It won't work. Everything will move to encrypted traffic.

and exactly how many customers who have 100% legit uses for the internet does AT&T expect to pay them for broadband?

I would truly like to see AT&T's subscription rates now that they've completed the COMPLETE SELLOUT of customer privacy. At just the time when GOOGLE was seeing some heat for the extent to which they sell and resell customer data to the highest bidder and the lowest bidder and the middle bidder at the SAME TIME.

I hope these industries will bail out AT&T when they have to file for bankruptcy which will make MCI WORLDCOM look like a bake sale gone bad!

Not true. We have a local option Corr Wireless that doesn't appear to have ties to Hollywood. I'm sure there are a lot of options for folks sick of the major providers.

"Mod Switch"... But that's for another day.

As for the Modding itself... some "places" will do it for you.

My main reason for posting was that THERE ARE ripped console games.
There is no protection out there that cannot be defeated!

*I* can copy 1:1 - protection and all!

So... the protection is actually still on the disc!

I just copied it too!

The Xbox 360 modders had 6-9 months of a free ride before the latest update started targeting them. And the loophole was the FIRMWARE in the DVD drive of all things. If that does not show you just how talented and resourceful the modders are nothing will

Gee, I would think Time Warner would have even closer "alignment" with Hollywood and the RIAA, you know, being that Warner Bros. has not only a movie studio but a record label as well. Yet, even when AOL got in the mess, they've actually managed to keep Road Runner as a fairly netural network.

If AT&T wants to try and stop piracy they're welcome to try, but they shouldn't forget that people are highly (and sometimes rightfully) paranoid about their privacy. There's a a healthy percentage of their customers have cable internet and telephony as a connectivity option. It's now more possible than ever for people to take their business completely away from AT&T if they chose to. They should tread very lightly.

Wasn't there an issue with ISP's not being held responsible since they didn't "know' what the data was. Won't the fact they would now KNOW allow ATT to be sued for copyright infringement by anyone/everyone since they could then be considered 'Content Providers'? they would not be able to cherry pick just Hollywoods list of goodies... they would be responsible for Everyones copyrighted material.

I could be wrong...

Oh yea, I saw the Youtube videos of the people modding their dvd firmwares. Unlike the PC software world though, the Xbox 360 updates are mandatory if you want to play online, and therefore, you can either nerf your console and play single player only with a modded firmware dvd drive, or you can just keep it the same as you bought it.

The copy protection in the console world is a lot more restrictive than the PC world thats for sure. Mainly because you can crack or hack a few pieces of software, and buy some legally and play online. With consoles, its an all or nothing situation.

The "letters" people talk about from Comcast are either about excessive use, or they are doing their duty notifying a customer about a piracy claim being made against them by antoher party. That's quite a bit different from actively implementing anti-piracy technologies designed to police their own customers.

Better be enough to offset the potential liabilities of throwing away their "common carrier" status...

Is it going to matter if your a customer, what if at&t's monitoring system is based on thier internet backbone? If your ISP peers with AT&T and they have some system monitoring like thier San Francisco CIA basement operation no one is safe. They'll just pick up the torrent, newgroup, emule etc. traffic, inspect and send your IP and infringement info to the entertainment mafias. And who _doesnt_ peer with AT&T.. amazing.

Perhaps it's simply lack of enough desire to overcome it. Really, how many gamers do you know that want to even bother playing a crap game let alone pirating it just because the protection has been broken. I think the real key here is, people buy the games because it's generally worth the money (and, you can always trade the game in towards another one if you don't like it or you've tired of it). There aren't any restrictions that limit me to what console, TV, etc. I play on (e.g., I can take my 360 and plug it into any other compatible TV or I can take my game and play it on any 360).

Personally, I think this supports what a lot of people say in reference to music. They're willing to pay if they're getting good value for their money, particularly if the media is unencumbered.

Please don't speak on behalf of everyone. That was an ignorant comment. I have access to 2 broadband technologies. DSL (AT&T) or local cable. I am switching to cable. My uncle, who lives about 3 miles from me, has only one: cable.

Sure there is Satelite and dialup. Satalite costs an arm and a leg, and who wants to go back to dialup? Actually we are planning on riding of our telephone soon. We have cell phones, who needs regular phone?

No wireless here that is cheap enough either.

Their duty??? You mean they (Comcast) rolled over don't you ?
At least Verizon fought the RIAA and prevailed.

From the LA Times article...
"Verizon Communications Inc., which has fiercely guarded the privacy of its customers, has refused so far to offer a network anti-piracy tool. It defeated in court the recording industry's demands to reveal names of those allegedly involved in downloading pirated songs."

No "Letters" of any kind from Verizon here.

Thanks for playing.
--

How can they be local? It looks like they resell The New AT&T by looking at their coverage map. They even use the Cingular Orange.

Switches, they can be purchased at the local(?) electronice warehouse that can enable Mod - no Mod.

As for the manditory updates... uhm, yeah.
Several of the *computer* games that I play online, have denied access to the online servers until I applied the new 1.2? 1.3? patch on said game.

Is that not the same as what youi are saying about the consoles?

Same sh**, different platform.

System link games and xlink Kai offer multilayer experience without the hassle of XBL and is free. That being said no modded 360 here, playing legit games on XBL. Anything can be cracked / reverse engineered given time.

Before you start calling people ignorant I'd suggest you comprehend what you're replying to.

I'm not talking about cable/DSL/SAT or even internet. I'm talking about wireless phone services.

Local as in they have an office down the street.

Forgive me but I thought it was common knowledge that the small companies commonly resell the major players services. Although at&t would still get some of my money, they wouldn't be getting it straight from me.

Time to use the encrypted Usenet service

"The good news for AT&T is that there's so little competition that where else are the customers going to go?"

AMen. My only other choice is Cox, and I'm not sure if they even offer service in my neighborhood.

riaa mpaa ... u can see the trend at&t follows 3 and 4 letters makes all the difference

Ah, I knew Verizon was fighting them but missed the news that they had won. Very cool. Not that it helps me, I can't get Verizon internet service.

-- Rob