Breck Stewart

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...

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 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 "Relève 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.

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