Google Blocks Rooted Android Devices From Renting Movies

For now, Google is restricting rooted Android devices from using its movie rental service on the Android Market. Photo: Duncan Geere/Wired.co.uk

For many Android enthusiasts, having total control is part of the platform’s attraction. But Google is imposing some annoying new restrictions for those who want to be superusers on their own phones.

Google is blocking access to its new Android Market movie rental service for those using rooted Android devices. If you try to access a movie from the Market using a rooted device, you’ll receive a “failure to fetch license” error message.

Obtaining root access to an Android device gives you full administrative privileges, letting you make changes that wouldn’t otherwise be possible running the stock operating system out of the box. That means anything from installing a custom version of your operating system to deleting the prebundled bloatware that came with your device. A minority of Android phone owners do this, but for those who do, the flexibility and control is an important feature and, for some, a right.

On the help menu of the official Android Market, Google gives a vague reason for the holdup, stating that “rooted devices are currently unsupported due to requirements related to copyright protection.”

Ostensibly, the holdup is coming from the end of the movie studios.

“Rooted devices can probably work around the DRM system that they have set up,” says Gartner analyst Phillip Redman. DRM (Digital Rights Management) systems control the uses of digital content — like movies or music — that aren’t intended by the host of the content. It’s likely the studios are worried that if you’re using a rooted device, you could potentially run an app that would make copies of the movies you’re renting on the Android Market’s movie service.

This restriction isn’t unique to Android movie rentals. Netflix has been available for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad for months, yet the streaming video service hadn’t extended to Android until this month. And even now, Netflix is currently available on only five specific Android phone models. The reasoning, according to Netflix, has been because of protestations from movie studios.

“The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices,? wrote Greg Peters of Netflix product development in a November blog post.

Google had no further comment on the issue.

As Google only recently launched its movie rental service, it is still in its infancy stage. Currently, you can only watch movies from the Android Market on either your desktop web browser, or on the 3G version of Motorola’s Xoom tablet. The Android Market says support for phones and the Wi-Fi Xoom is coming soon.

We may not see movie rentals on rooted devices any time soon, but if Netflix’s foibles are any indicator, we can probably expect more non-rooted devices to gradually gain access. “There are requirements we must fulfill in order to obtain content from major studios for our subscribers to enjoy,” Netflix’s Peters wrote. “Although we don?t have a common platform security mechanism and DRM, we are able to work with individual handset manufacturers to add content protection to their devices.”

The restrictions bring into question Android’s “open” platform campaign. Google’s Nexus model phones — HTC’s Nexus One and the Samsung Nexus S — both come with the built-in ability to gain root access to the phones. And the Motorola Xoom comes with an unlockable bootloader, which also allows for root access. Yet it seems for the time being, you’ll have to choose between rooting your phone and renting movies from the market.

Until you figure out a workaround, that is. “There’s always a lot of content available out there,” Gartner’s Redman said, “but mostly to those that are more technically savvy and can navigate around the roadblocks put into place by the studios.” And according to one user’s comment on Android Central, “all you have to do is spoof your info,” or conceal your phone’s actual identification information.

But however unhappy these restrictions make root users, it may be the cost of doing business. “If you’re going to build a successful platform,” says Redman, “agreements have to be made. I think this one is entirely reasonable.”