3D cards with DRM support (Re: [sldev] Re: "It's Just Not Possible")

SignpostMarv Martin me at signpostmarv.name
Tue Jun 10 15:17:07 PDT 2008


Dale Mahalko wrote:
> I will mention that on the old SL forums years ago I was discussing
> the possibility of a 3D video card with a dedicated, isolated memory
> space and a public/private key DRM model. Textures would be sent from
> the grid to the client in a pre-encrypted form, stored in this
> encrypted state in the client cache, and only decoded inside the
> protected memory space of the 3D card. By pairing this with HDCP this
> would create a secured digital pathway for assets to be reasonably
> protected from theft.
>
> Of course this was attacked in the forums as untenable and that "it
> will be hacked and you cannot stop it", which is not the point. The
> point is that it creates a similarly locked front door metaphor. As a
> thief you must be willing to go to some measures to break this
> protection in order to steal the content protected inside, and which
> gives a lawyer a definite case for prosecution since it isn't like the
> files sit in a raw format in a folder just waiting for Picasa to
> stumble across it and unknowingly catalog it.
>
> Since there are now only two significant players in the 3D card
> market, nVidia and ATI, it would be relatively easy for a copy
> protection mechanism to enter the marketplace and silently slip into
> place, as is already happening now as HDCP is replacing old non-HDCP
> cards.
>
> The overall performance may suffer somewhat due to the heavy
> encryption, but this would give content creators the legal protection
> they need to prosecute potential asset thieves. Besides with 3D cards
> now pushing 1 gigabyte and more of onboard memory plus ultra-high
> power processing, it's not like there would be a huge step back in
> performance.
Wouldn't that lock out every single person and/or device that doesn't 
have a supporting graphics card ?

DRM for 3D apps on the scale of Second Life is rather inefficient and 
pointless, and would vastly restrict the adoption of SL.

~ Marv.
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