AMD Blocking Access To The Frame Buffer

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For those of you that haven’t seen this, Tom Yeager over at InfoWorld says that AMD plans to block unauthorized access to the frame buffer in its upcoming products to keep content from being copied without the authorization from the content owner.

There is a short list of parties who will be unauthorized to access your frame buffer: You. There is a long list of parties who are authorized to access your frame buffer, and that list includes Microsoft, Apple, AMD, Intel, ATI, NVidia, Sony Pictures, Paramount, HBO, CBS, Macrovision, and all other content owners and enablers that want your machine to themselves whenever you’re watching, listening to, reading, or shooting monsters with their products.
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I know FRAPS uses the frame buffer to allow the user to record video of gameplay...i wonder if it'll be affected.
 
amazing. If intel doesn't follow suit, then they earned my dollar. If they do, then a c2d is the last hardware upgrade i'll be buying :( :( Studio's should embrace all of this new technology instead of trying to control it. I don't mind $15-20 for a dvd (however, I don't feel the same way for CD's), but if it doesn't play on anything, then it's pointless in my eye.
 
I guess it will soon be time to buy the last great processor and just stop upgrading. ...or have an older machine you can use for ripping. :)
 
The computer is dead, long live the computer.

As the usability an flexibility of the computer decreases, eventually we will go back to hitting animals over the head with sticks, or perhaps just media company executives and politicians.
 
Yep, I would have to say that after years and years of purchasing and supporting AMD. I will have to bid them a not so fond farewell. First, their purchase of ATI, then this, yeah, I don't think I'll be upgrading to another AMD system again. Hello Intel...
 
blackrose said:
amazing. If intel doesn't follow suit, then they earned my dollar. If they do, then a c2d is the last hardware upgrade i'll be buying :( :( Studio's should embrace all of this new technology instead of trying to control it. I don't mind $15-20 for a dvd (however, I don't feel the same way for CD's), but if it doesn't play on anything, then it's pointless in my eye.
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Intel has been planning CPU based copyright protection for a long time.
 
Heh. They're struggling financially, cutting prices like twice a month, and now they're gonna release these chips. What a way to encourage people to buy their stuff.
 
I am a novice so can anyone tell me how this effects all of us?

Kmat
 
GJSNeptune said:
Heh. They're struggling financially, cutting prices like twice a month, and now they're gonna release these chips. What a way to encourage people to buy their stuff.
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Probably made a deal with the media companies to refuel their finances. Most of these companies sales are through server/buisness and OEMs so it won't affect sales that much by adding this. Enthusiast market isn't big enough to persuade them not to.
 
Lazn_Work said:
The computer is dead, long live the computer.

As the usability an flexibility of the computer decreases, eventually we will go back to hitting animals over the head with sticks, or perhaps just media company executives and politicians.
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Maybe if we start chasing the Execs with stick they will start to see reason.

I'm still waiting for the day they make living illegal. or tax breathing. I hate to say it but the computer is dying pretty soon it will be prefab machines that do what the people with money think they should do.

Then again I may just still be mad that my school caved to the RIAA and will release what ever records they want.
 
Something that I'm still not clear on is the extent of the blocking.

Does it just mean that while playing DRM'd HD-DVD/Bluray I don't have access to my frame buffer? Will I have access or not while playing standard DVDs/videos?

Or does it (only?) mean that FRAPS will not work?
 
Lazn_Work said:
The computer is dead, long live the computer.

As the usability an flexibility of the computer decreases, eventually we will go back to hitting animals over the head with sticks, or perhaps just media company executives and politicians.
Click to expand...

No kidding, news like this disappoints me. Computers are becoming increasingly controlled to what what we can do with them, unlike the good ole days. It is going to blur their purpose with other mediacentric devices. If this trend continues I forsee the computer becoming nothing more than another media device with limited user control.

I hope I am wrong.
 
Personally i hate this kind of thing last night i put Stranger Than Fiction into my computer to watch it (WinDVD7) and my computer was unable to read it because some sort of copy protection Sony put onto it. I was simply trying to watch a movie WATCH a movie i purchased and they locked me out because i had a burner and nero on my system. If they start limiting access to our own computers and allowing company's to control how and when you are able to view their content on our own computers things like this are only going to get worse. I can just see it now "You are unable to play this video because you dont have a (insert name brand) branded DVD-ROM." Or "Your hardware did not match the approved hardware list and connot play the media" Simply because i didnt purchase the hardware brand that they have in their wallet. Utter BS. And claiming it will help IT in security i can see them implementing this in thier server lines also so no loophole there.
 
I'll just video record my screen with a high-def camera. oooh! Take that AMD/MPAA!!!1!
 
Thanatos. said:
Personally i hate this kind of thing last night i put Stranger Than Fiction into my computer to watch it (WinDVD7) and my computer was unable to read it because some sort of copy protection Sony put onto it. I was simply trying to watch a movie WATCH a movie i purchased and they locked me out because i had a burner and nero on my system. If they start limiting access to our own computers and allowing company's to control how and when you are able to view their content on our own computers things like this are only going to get worse. I can just see it now "You are unable to play this video because you dont have a (insert name brand) branded DVD-ROM." Or "Your hardware did not match the approved hardware list and connot play the media" Simply because i didnt purchase the hardware brand that they have in their wallet. Utter BS. And claiming it will help IT in security i can see them implementing this in thier server lines also so no loophole there.
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QFT Well said.

In the end, even voting with our wallets doesn't seem to get through to these people.
 
Whats funny is going online and in 5 minutes i found out how to copy the movie. DRM isn't hurting the pirates will find another way around it it only hurts the consumers.
 
Spazilton said:
QFT Well said.

In the end, even voting with our wallets doesn't seem to get through to these people.
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Too many Joe Sixpacks, and not enough techies. It's below Joe's radar (or beyond his caring, since he doesn't view movies on his computer) so it doesn't cause enough lost sales to put the hurt on.

If there was a way to get the average user concerned enough to boycott, then it might have an effect. Until then, in matters like this, we're screwed.
 
What the fuck? We can't access certain parts of our own memory if a flag is set? This is some kind of sick, twisted joke. It's just adding to the massive clusterfu- that is HD content deployment.
 
This is for AMD video cards, not processors. remember ATI is now AMD, this framebuffer flag will only be active if the content you are viewing is blueray or hddvd and is the same thing as the HDMI/HDCP interface stuff that everyone was freaking out about 6 months ago.

If you don't watch hidef movies on your computer than this should not effect you.. and if you do watch them... you won't be able to view the framebuffer, I'd rather be watching the movie myself, but if you want to look at some memory you can grab an nvidia card.
 
Wasn't he talking about the graphics cards, not the CPUs?

"During that visit, I got the briefest of updates on ATI’s new GPU (graphics processing unit) technology. It will ship with software that plays movies on Blu-ray discs. The AMD rep spelled it out in words that would have been undiplomatic coming from me: He said that the new chips will “block unauthorized access to the frame buffer.”

Not a matter of switching to Intel, but rather nVidia if it's the GPU they're talking about.
 
Guys, calm down and take a step back, look at the whole picture here...

Now think about it, is there a single form of DRM or Copyright Protection that hasn't been cracked? ;)

All this is going to do is keep honest users honest, everyone else will just go around it as usual.
 
Here's a thought... since the consumer will be paying for all this, how about we get the movies for free? No? Didn't think so :rolleyes:
 
More pandering to the Media companies by a hardware company that is in the dumps.

What a way to resurrect yourself. Now please, go take a shower. You need one AMD.
 
How hard could this possibly be to bypass anyway? A set of hacked drivers? A program that fakes the authorization flag? What's the point of blocking the frame buffer anyway? Don't most ripping programs get the data directly from the disc :confused:
 
Its the same DRM story all over again. Instead of the analog hole trick of recording a DRM track during playback, you will have to use a 3rd party program to "capture" the image instead of using the frame buffer of the original source. This has been an ongoing battle for quite some time, and I don't see it changing any time soon with MPAA and RIAA cartels controlling how we listen/watch content on our PC's. We just have to be smart about how we'd like to support these cartels in the future.
 
I read the article then reread the article on the front page. I think Steve needs to edit the article because whenever I the letters AMD, I automatically think CPU not GPU.
 
Wait, so is this telling me I won't be able to take a screencap? What about using FB output in Linux? Or is this all only locked down when I have a DVD playing? Either way, I don't like it. People started building and using computers to get around limitations, not to create new ones.
 
Depending on the Video Renderer DirectShow has picked to use (new version of VMR or Overlay Mixer or something), it probably will not allow access to whatever's currently in the framebuffer. You can't take screenshots with Overlay Mixer now anyways, so I'm guessing DirectShow...well, Media Foundation now ships/shipped with a new DRM'ified stock video renderer.
 
Although this is dissapointing news, I will wait and see the full affect of the frame buffer being blocked when it is implemented in a released product before I get upset. There are sure to be workarounds anyway. I am very anxious to see these new GPU's from ATI/AMD, so let's hope this issue is overshadowed by the performance of this product.
 
This is for AMD video cards, not processors. remember ATI is now AMD, this framebuffer flag will only be active if the content you are viewing is blueray or hddvd and is the same thing as the HDMI/HDCP interface stuff that everyone was freaking out about 6 months ago.
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Are you sure? As its the most pointless of things to add, DVD/HD-DVD/Bluray hacks have all happened without stealing frames/information from the framebuffer. So protecting the content at this level, achieves absolutely nothing for the 3 digital media discs mentioned above.
 
One more reason not to by an AMD / ATI product. In addition to their slow desktop CPUs and graphics cards that need a 40 pound liquid nitrogen cooler and extreme clocks to come anywhere close to matching NVIDIA's more efficient 8800 architecture.

*Yawn* gg AMD.
 
wtf? why is this getting attention? The guy doesn't know what he's talking about, and I'm sure the only quote in there was taken out of context. There's no way he could be talking about anything other than HDCP, which we've known about for, oh say TWO YEARS already! Why don't you people ever use your heads for two seconds, both the writers and the readers!
 
Looks like the AMD !!!!!! in me just died and was reincarnated as an Intel !!!!!!. AMD just lost a customer...Me. I'm not going to buy another AMD product again until they get rid of this crap.
 
I can't figure out why AMD would even bother doing this. As far as I know, they don't own any intellectual property that they would want to protect in this manor. I haven't heard of a case where a hardware vendor was successfully sued because their hardware was used for piracy. And they must know that this will only deter sales of their products, so why would they even care?

Only thing I can think of as possible reasons for them to do this is either they are trying to get there hardware certified for some kind of HD video playback that requires it as part of the licensing spec, or some of those property rights holders are paying them to do it, or forcing them thru political pressure. But if its any of those, you would think Nvidia or Intel would be doing it in their new designs as well.

Anyone know any details as to why AMD is doing this?
 
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