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Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Open Media Network

Various authors, Apr 26, 2005

This site, the misleadingly titled Open Media Network, is one part of a wider strategy to see Microsoft DRM technologies become the de facto standard for online multimedia (and in particular, video). More. While it appears that the dawn of free video content has finally arrived, the Microsoft DRM world is a very restricted universe - you have to have Windows, of course, and be using the proper DRM. Moreover, as the Open Media Network website makes clear, "only authorized Producers can publish content into OMN." This is just the latest in a series of such announcements. For example, MTV Overdrive launched a free video service yesterday - it also requires Windows - the site tells Linux users (and presumably Apple users) that their operating system won't support the Microsoft DRM used by overdrive. Less heralded launches have also been announced in the last month by, among others, Maxim, Bell Canada (French language), ArtsPass (educational), IFILM (film), Penn Media (historical footage), CBS (news), Sympatico (french video), Magic Lantern (video), and many more. The web is changing as we watch - and where it is headed is not yet clear. Will people give up the ability to produce and publish free content in exchange for all these offerings from the major producers? Or will the blogging and podcasting revolutions sweep into video as well?

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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