Originally published February 4 2006
Vongo digital video subscription could be Mac-compatible
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Starz’ video subscription service Vongo could be Mac-compatible if Apple changes its digital rights management philosophy. The Vongo website declares, “Vongo is currently PC based, but will soon be Mac compatible (really!)."
Starz' new digital video subscription and download service Vongo could be Mac-compatible, a Vongo executive told Macworld, presuming Apple has a change of heart in its digital rights management philosophy.
For about $10 per month, subscribers to Vongo will be able to watch and download more than 1,000 movies and other content licensed by Starz Entertainment Group (SEG), the premium cable television network behind channels including Starz and Encore.
The service uses digital rights management technology built into Microsoft's Windows Media Player software, and is compatible with Windows-compatible PCs running Windows 2000 or later.
We'd like to develop for the Macintosh and we're thinking throughout how to do that," said Bob Greene, SEG's senior vice president, advanced services.
What's at stake isn't trivial: It's the basis of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that drives music and videos sold through the iTunes Music Store.
Such content is encrypted using FairPlay, Apple's DRM scheme which limits the number of times a song can be burned to CD, or what devices can play back music and videos purchased through iTunes.
The real issue is the DRM: The FairPlay DRM doesn't support subscription models," Greene said.
Like other Windows Media-based entertainment services, Vongo enables users to pay a flat rate every month.
In return, they can watch whatever videos they want, and can download and view videos on their computer and portable devices --- but they have to continue paying a monthly fee to see them.
By comparison, once you buy a video, TV show or song from the iTunes Music Store, it's yours to keep on any machine authorized to play it.
With Apple selling videos for the iPod, could it be time to revisit this decision?
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