DRM Redux
After my flaming rant on Microsoft DRM yesterday it seems only responsible to write a well thought out post about the subject. I’ve been doing some thinking lately and realize that DRM may just be a necessity in our lives today. This thought comes to me not because I’m against sharing movies and music but because I’m all for convenience. Face it, DRM makes music and movie industry executives sleep well at night and when they sleep well they wake up and are willing to allow more digital media outside of their walled fortresses.
My objection to DRM is when it is used for so called “Trusted Computing” or “Digital Restrictions Management”. Lets take for example iTunes music DRM, this DRM was implemented responsibly in such a way that it prevents users from just plopping the files on LimeWire but does not abridge the consumers’ fair use rights. When you download music from iTunes you are allowed to burn the files to CD which also means you can re-rip them as mp3 files. Sure, its an inconvenience but music execs sleep better and thus allow digital music purchases to continue un-hindered.
However when DRM is not implemented responsibly such as iTunes movies and Microsoft kernel modules then it becomes an abridgment of consumers’ fair use rights and should be aggressively resisted (read: don’t buy the products). In the case of iTunes movies, why would I not be allowed to burn them to a DVD so I can watch them on my home DVD player or re-rip them so I can watch them on my Linux boxes? For Microsoft, what’s the purpose of DRM in the Windows kernel? Do they really think it will help protect Windows? The only thing that could protect Windows is a complete re-write using responsible coding practices. Not to turn this into a rip-on-MS fest, the point is adding DRM to the kernel modules just makes it harder for enthusiasts to write their own drivers, again it abridges consumers’ fair use rights for their hardware.
Overall DRM can be an acceptable annoyance if implemented responsibly but an all out tragedy when implemented irresponsibly.
Leave a Reply