TechCrunch reports today on a move by the major studios to protect digital media through a DRM scheme called Open Market.  Rather than bow to the the individual protections of a single retailer, otherwise known as iTunes, the studios are working with about 30 different retailers and portals, including Amazon, Best Buy, Direct TV, Time Warner Cable, T-Mobile, Target, Wal-Mart, and others to create a system whereby any digital media available through the participating companies would be subject to third party encryption that would only work on registered devices.  (Essentially, you could only play the movie on a device you had registered in advance for the purpose of ‘using’ that file).

This could be good news for indies, since it has been shown time and again how distasteful these kind of DRM methods are to consumers, who want to be able to use media they paid for when and where they want it, as they would a DVD.  If indies are able to market their downloadable products on Amazon or other portals as DRM-free (or at least, not “Open Market”) it may be a selling point.

First, my news: LAUNCH DATE 8/8/8 (in keeping with the infinity theme).

Infinicine.com will be a resource for filmmakers and distributors about digital and online distribution. It will be a place to discuss your experiences with different approaches and find out about new developments in the medium. Infinicine.com will cover online distribution including downloads, streaming, download-to-disc, etc. as well as digital theatrical, DVD, Blu-ray, mobile, and satellite technology. Just as importantly, the social side of online distribution will be explored (and even exploited).

There have been all kinds of developments during my posting hiatus. Among them:

Netflix is going to be streaming through the Xbox 360
Amazon has set up the beta of their On Demand streaming service and are working with a majority of studios to deliver content
Apple released the iPhone and approximately three people in America do not have one (but they are in line)
Sony will stream to its Bravia TVs (as will Amazon) and also is providing progressive downloads via the PS3 (allowing users to watch downloading films almost immediately after queuing). They are also working on a new way to transmit HD wirelessly.
SAG still hasn’t settled on internet issues.

You can stay current with the feed to the right- and stay tuned here for much more content in the weeks to come!

Apple announced today that its iTunes store would finally be reaching the key market of Canada, to go along with its other recent conquests in the U.K.. Meanwhile, debate rages on in my homeland about Bell and Rogers’ attempts to throttle P2P sharing of copyrighted files, while the legality of such sharing remains ambiguous. And Hollywood, who can no longer tolerate Canada even for service work now that the loony is so strong, blames Canadians for up to 50% of feature film internet piracy (the worst offenders are in Montreal, naturally- those libertines!)

In the new economies of internet trade (where the products are nothing if not ephemeral), a tiny market like Canada’s can suddenly make an outsized difference- if what they are doing is not paying for what we know as ‘products’, sharing media, and then sending it all out to the rest of the world. There is a butterfly-wing result- Canadians may be few in number, but they are affluent enough to access the latest technologies as well as positioned to influence their neighbors to the south. Canadian media producers are used to not making money. The government itself may end up helping to drive this effort.