Breckstewart's Journals

Be Integrated Video: Say No to DRM

Well, this one sure took a long time to complete. I started to work on the concept of Be Integrated back in early 2007 but somehow it went on the backburner for a long while before I was able to put my vision on the screen. So many things happened that this particular video and storyline would have to wait until the right opportunity presented itself before getting recorded and edited.

After releasing a succession of episodes from our new MoonDaze TV project, my team at MoonDaze Productions and I decided to take a break from it to actually go back to our primary love which is producing videos to accompany musical songs. MoonDaze TV was a nice distraction but it's all about the music and this is where the focus should be.

So far, there have been 3 clips released from the Utopia album we launched in December 2007 if we count the alternative version for the song Lustful Puppylove. But this new single and video is very special for so many reasons. First, I feel like this is the best song from my album or at least my personal favorite. You can view the clip on many web sites including here on buzznet, myspace, youtube and also on my own domain:

http://www.breckstewart.com

We waited to release it as a 3rd single because we wanted to have a strong video to accompany it. But mainly, the song and video were created for a very specific goal. As you may know, I am deeply involved in the fight against Digital Rights Management also called DRM. This technological process was created solely to control and restrict what people can do with digital files by assuming that every customer is a common thief bent on "stealing" or "pirating" various files. But of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

The first time I became aware of DRM and the threat it represents to digital freedom was when I was trying to set up a system where my songs could be sold in digital form in MP3. As I started to learn more about this process, I got truly offended by its intent. It's like a digital lock whose sole purpose is to keep consumers from being able to do what they want with the files they purchased. How despicable is that?

Well, now it's here and our digital world is becoming more and more unstable as a result. Windows Vista from Microsoft is the worst offender of course because those DRM "viruses" were integrated directly into the heart of the operating system so that people wouldn't be able to copy, share or even use Blu-Ray Discs and digital files in a fair manner.

The right of fair use is extremely important in connection to DRM because that technology comes in the way of it. Fair use is a crucial concept because it goes back to the basic right of a buyer who simply wishes to utilize the digital product they purchased in a way that is deemed fair by simple common sense. But this is where it gets muddy. Whose to say how you should use the product you just bought? Is that fair for some huge company to actually decide what you can and can not do with what you purchased with your hard earned money?

Microsoft took years to build Vista but not only did they not enhance the user experience from the one had with Windows XP, they went as far as redesigning a new system that is completely customer unfriendly. By incorporating all those barriers into the operating system, they made things a lot more complicated and obtrusive technically. And if you think for a second that they didn't also add numerous ways to spy on the users, you'll suffer through a rude awakening at some point. Just do some digging and you'll see just how many processes included in Vista phone home and report back to Microsoft, infringing on your privacy and assuming you're a thief before you even do anything.

I personally started to really hate Vista and Blu-Ray when I spent a long time doing research in technical forums and sites. Then, many of my friends and acquaintances were forced into having Vista because we're already at the point where new systems come pre installed with Vista with no choice to have XP for most users. And I saw how many problems they had to endure before most of them decided to go back to XP. But Microsoft is such a strong entity that they can simply use their monopoly and force people to switch to the new bloated Vista system and kill XP in the process which they plan to bury as quickly as possible.

Isn't that weird though? I mean XP was made by Microsoft so why would they desperately want to kill their own product? Does that make sense? Of course it does but only if one knows the history behind Vista and how it was designed to regain control over the users. And now that HD-DVD is history, Blu-Ray is the only High Definition video format on the market and boy, they didn't waste any time. We can now see ads for Blu-Ray along with regular DVDs all over the place but mostly for major Hollywood movies of course. It'll be a long time if ever when you'll be able to get that nice little movie from 1974 on a Blu-Ray disc. Let's face it, Blu-Ray is and will remain a product only for a very specific niche market.

Of course a new video format might be a nice idea but not one that treats their customers like thieves. DVD works wonderfully well and supplanted VHS because of many enhancements like rapid access to any part of the movie, much higher sound and video quality, and so on... But what more do we get when we switch from DVD to Blu-Ray? A higher resolution yes but also a ton of DRM locks. I work with videos all the time and let me tell you that even though Blu-Ray possesses a higher resolution that's true, most people wouldn't even notice it unless they own a 50 inch widescreen television or have a keen technical eye to detect those differences.

How much more resolution do we need to enjoy a movie anyway? Is that worth it to buy a completely new not to mention more expensive format just so the image might look a bit sharper? Do we really need to see every wrinkle and skin pore on actors with even more details? Does this actually enhance the experience and the enjoyment of a feature film? Certainly not to me and I have a very sharp eye for those things. And even if you could detect some minor image improvement, is it worth the risk of having that technology assume that your disc is actually pirated and therefore, shutting down your brand new shiny Blu-Ray player? You think I'm exaggerating? I wish I was.

Anyway, the video Be Integrated was constructed to help the cause against Digital Rights Management with animation showcasing many DRM objects constantly scanning and shutting down processes which they sense could violate some limitations imposed by the system as a whole. We wanted to show just how sneaky and agressive DRM processes can be and how this can affect many other legitimate functions in a negative manner by stealing their CPU power away. The animation where we see those red DRM objects flying around took a long time but I personally felt like it was needed to prove the point effectively.

And we used sequences from a live performance I did for an event called "RelÃ¨ve en Folies" in late 2007. It was a gala showcasing 150 different upcoming artists most of whom don't have much notoriety yet and I include myself in this of course. I performed 2 songs live namely "Digital Lover" and "Lustful Puppylove". There was also 2 dancers with me along with many models from 2 different fashion designer Erzuly and Station 8.

The event went very well and I was happy about my performance but sadly, the show which was recorded live ran too long and they had to cut it from 2 hours to about an hour. This happens all the time so I didn't mind not being in the final cut that much. But what I got really angry about was the fact that they completely erased the unused portion of the show in the digital master.

I got over it eventually but I felt like it was a cheap shot. And it was truly a miracle that I was able to actually get a copy of the backup that was shot in betacam which we reverted back to digital form. I consider myself very lucky because otherwise, those sequences would have been destroyed forever.

We merged the 2 performances of about 4 minutes each into a single one with new footage added. True, some of the lips movements don't really match in the long shots but I recorded many new sequences where we see me lip synching the proper song which we then superimposed on top of the existing material to create a new clip which is quite dense in terms of imagery with many layers coming in and out of focus.

I am very proud of the result and feel like all those artists with me on the stage deserved to have their performances preserved for posterity. For me it was really a great experience and I met many of them backstage where we fraternized and exchanged ideas and passions. I haven't made many other live performances since then because I've been too busy with so many other projects but my goal is really to get to do a live show at some point in the future and this song will of course be a part of it.

This video can be used by anyone to promote the cause of Digital Oppression as I like to call it. I truly hope that by doing this I might make some people aware of this issue which is already starting to affect many of us because let's face it, we will only become more dependant on computer technology as time progresses. I only wish that more people become aware of the potential problems they can have by using technologies that were created to actually come in their way and keep them from doing what they want.

We all deserve the best and sorry but Vista and Blu-Ray ain't it baby... Not with those evil DRM leeches running around inside them.

No Vista, No Blu-Ray

Say NO to Digital Oppression

DRM and Vista: Say NO to Digital Oppression THE VIDEO

I must admit, It's been a rather hectic time for me lately, a bit more than usual. The reason is that while my team and I are still working on the "Be Integrated" video which will be the next single featured in a clip from my album Utopia, we also just finished editing another one we decided to shoot at the beginning of this week. And this one is very special to me. It's called "DRM and Vista: Say No to Digital Oppression" which was posted here as well as on many other web sites all over the net.

It allowed me to share my views on DRM techology incorporated into Vista, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. We shot the video as a way to promote the fight against DRM so we could have a useful tool to inform people about what is going on right now in their computers. This video can be embedded or linked on any other web sites without restrictions as my team at MoonDaze Productions and I decided to release it to public domain. Here is my own personal web site:

http://www.breckstewart.com

Our goal was never to make money off this but rather find a way to get people informed. I am very proud of this video even if it was done on the spur of the moment as I am very busy shooting and producing my next video Be Integrated. But the energy spent on it was totally worth it. We don't expect miracles from this but even if one person gets informed about the evil of DRM technology, we will be very satisfied.

I must admit it was fun to speak about a subject dear to my heart and inform people. We shot 30 minutes of footage and reduced it to a 10 min 50s. uncut version and a 9 min. 53 sec. that was cut to accomodate the length limit imposed on youtube.com I didn't rehearse what I was going to say, I just talked and talked and tried not to sound too much like an idiot. lol

The thing is that I am rather well informed about DRM so it was easy to just speak from my heart and also, I admit I am a talking machine so all you have to do is press the on button and I can dish it out all day long, must be from my television host days I guess. It is so important to get the information out there because many people are not even aware of DRM or how it can really cause them major headaches in a not so distant future as most new computers are already sold with Vista installed on it as the default operating system.

Therefore, they will simply accept it and it's only when they start to experience problems that they will realize that something might be working against them underneath the hood of that shiny new machine they just bought for a small fortune I might add. This is why I can't just sit idle and do nothing while so many consumers can be taken advantage of because they are not aware of what is going on. I just hope that in my tiny little way, I might make a difference.

Right now, I am knee-deep into shooting my next single. Since I also do a lot of work behind the scenes as well, it helps me stay focused on the whole chain of events that have to happen in order for a video to be made. Every task is important and I am not one to downplay the importance of every person in my organization.

We simply have no money so everything is a challenge to say the least and we are still looking for other people to help us but I am lucky in having found 2 friends who have been with me for a long while and can be trusted totally. Be Integrated also revolves around DRM technology as the storyline's main focus but takes a lot longer to shoot and edit because of all the post-production needed to build the animation and special effects. We still haven't found the right girl or any other person willing to appear in the clip.

And since the deadline is rapidly approaching, I might end up being the only featured in the video. This is not my first choice of course but without money, we simply can't afford to pay people much and most of them have unrealistic expectations about the money they can earn by appearing in a video production. It's always been my main problem through all my projects, finding people to either help me do the tasks or appear in the video with me.

Money is always the issue and my cie MoonDaze Productions is very low on cash so it's a challenge which we have had to face head on since beginning. I can't even afford to pay my 2 associates so they do this out of their beliefs in my art and that one day, we might actually start to earn some money.

This is why everytime they do something to help me, I am so grateful. I have no idea still if and when I will earn enough to pay all those mounting debts. But suffice it to say that I believe in what I do so much that even if I have to work at en endless array of other jobs to earn a living, I still spend every waking moment thinking about this as my main focus in life.

And now with this battle against DRM, I admit it gave me a new strength and kicked me in the rear just when I needed it. I was yearning for something more than just dishing out songs and shooting videos. I wanted to make a difference and this cause is perfect for me because it affects me personally yes but also, it can potentially hurt any customer out there who simply trust a corporation that might end up taking advantage of them.

So please, get informed and pass the word around, it's for the greater good to preserve our ability to use our computers as we please.

We all deserve it.

No Vista
No Blu-Ray
Say no to Digital Oppression