When Would You Accept DRM? 1288
twigles asks: "Following on the heels of Apple closing DVD Jon's end run around its DRM and a British TV station offering DRM'd downloads it seems fair to ask, what DRM would you accept as a consumer? Personally, I take the view that if a song, movie, book, etc. is DRM'd then it isn't truly mine. On the other hand, if a particular piece of digital media is priced correctly (a la' rental fee) would that be satisfactory, or do you feel that DRM in any form is ridiculous?"
I would accept DRM when (Score:1, Informative)
Re:I'll answer for slashdot (Score:3, Informative)
You think it's easy to do music full time while keeping a day job? There IS a life outside Slashbot-land. I think you need a change of perspective.
Re:Never (Score:4, Informative)
BEcause of the Internet, we don't need a comemrcial circuit, we need communication aver what is being made.
That's why I created GNUArt [gnuart.org]: To give creators a possibility to get their stuff circulating with no restrictions other than ensuring their contribution would remain known as theirs.
Now, if the gallery [gnuart.net] gained popularity it would help benevolents distributing their creations.
Re:I'll answer for slashdot (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I'll answer for slashdot (Score:3, Informative)
First, you need to be careful defining what you "own". If I rent/lease a car I can't do anything I want with it. Even if I own the car, I can't use it in a reckless manner or give it to someone to use in a crime. If I rent a DVD from a store I can't do anything I want with it. For example, I am not allowed to melt the DVD itself or scratch it so it is unusable.
As to your second point, there is a lot of software that is hideously complex and expensive to create and cannot just be made "free". How many companies can create controller software for a cellular base station (I used to work at Motorola) and then give it away free? It doesn't work well as an open source project since there is no way to test the software without purchasing specific hardware that costs US$100k or more. So how does a cellular provider get this software? Develop it themselves? Oh wait, then their competitors get it for free (according to your premise) and they can undercut your price because you had the cost to develop it in the first place.
Third point - so if I have a world changing idea then I should just give it away? Unfortunately, I have to eat and prefer to live in a house instead of a tent (winter can be harsh in my part of the world) so I need some money for those things. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. If you will guarantee to give me food and shelter then I might give it my ideas for free. Communism tried this and it didn't work out (at least in the USSR).
DRM is flawed, but since people prefer free to costing something it is required if you want any compensation for what you do. Imagine making music and only being able to sell 1 copy of your music and everyone on Earth then gets a copy. Who is going to pay US$10k for a song to cover the cost of the recording equipment when everyone else gets it for free? If I wait for a few days I can be the one who gets it for free.
Final point - spoken like someone who never had their roommate "borrow" some of their software/movies/pictures/etc. My wedding pictures are my property and I don't want someone else to have/look at/post them without my approval.
Personally I think DRM is hideously broken in our current state of law/society. However, I think it is required since most people prefer to get something free instead of paying for it.
Re:Yes (Score:2, Informative)
"I understand the need..." (Score:3, Informative)
I think that expecting the record companies to stop their price fixing is unrealistic. They've already settled one case out of court for peanuts, so of course they're going to do it again.
Re:Not mine? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yes (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Never (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Never (Score:2, Informative)
There's a deli here in Portland where the owner has a big stack of cd's with a sign taped to them saying that he's no longer allowed to play them without paying royalties.
Even with a cd there are limits on what you can do with it. It's not a question of whether or not your rights are being managed. It's just a question of where the line is drawn.
Re:Yes (Score:5, Informative)
He's not a hyprocrite; he's exactly right. You can't own music. You can't own the words in a book. You can't own a movie. You can own copies of all those things, and/or you can own the copyright on all those things. When I buy a DVD, I own the DVD, and I own the copy of the content on that DVD. What I do not own is the copyright on that content. The ownership of the two is distinct, and an interest in one does not in any way affect an interest in the other. Just read section 202 of US copyright law:
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Never (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Yes (Score:3, Informative)
* you don't OWN all rights on the content on that disc, only those rights copyright holder grants to you.
WRONG!!! I have all rights that the copyright system of my country allows me, as well as any additional rights that the copyright holder may grant me. That's what "fair use" is, and, here in the U.S.A. at least, it specifically states that I can make copies for personal use or my personal "archive" of music (which happens to sitting on the floor beside me at the moment, I bring it with me on long trips so as not to risk losing/breaking the originals).
--Ender
DRM is in Computers Today! (Score:1, Informative)
Their strategy is to get the public to unknowlingly buy hardware with these chips before the DRM is activated. Once the hardware DRM is widely distributed among the public, they will activate the DRM through software upgrades.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4360793.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Acceptable DRM (for ebooks) (Score:1, Informative)
If it were reasonable & similar to current use (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Never (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Never (Score:5, Informative)
Don't be so sure of that.
From DNA Lounge blog [dnalounge.com]:
Re:Never (Score:1, Informative)
I'll take "All of them", for $500, Alex.
TFOAE.
Re:Never (Score:1, Informative)
You responded:
Moron. I'm a musician! (insert "insensitive clod" here.) Don't worry, I'm not taking the "content producer" high road. Because I'm a music junkie, I don't want to rent music, unless I'm deciding if I want to buy it or not. Movies, on the other hand, I like to rent 'em, because I never want to see 'em more than once (except for FLCL, which I'll buy). My music, however, must remain as available to my kids as my parent's LPs were to me. Therefore, in order to get me to shell out for music that might evaporate when Apple changes their minds about our licensing agreement, you have to bring the price down so low that I don't care if I lose it or not.
It's nice to listen to a record before I buy it. What the majors would do, if they wanted to sell to me, was give away lossy music, and sell me 24/192 lossless digi audio. (That's far better than CD quality, for those of you who don't recoginize the 24/192.) Chances are...? (hollow echo)
This is not what's going on here. It doesn't matter whether or not it's available via BT for free; this doesn't effect my willingness to pay. I'm not pretending to ignore the availability of, say, Boards of Canada stuff for free, in order to justify buying it. I DON'T WANT LOSSY MUSIC, and that's what is available to pirates. The only people I find trading FLACs are trading live shows they've taped, and most are fairly serious about not trading shows of bands who have expressed reluctance regarding having their live shows traded online. (Yes, we ask 'em, yes, their responses are usually available.)
If wishes were horses... Hey, I want to be free, too, but I also want to be able to pay the rent.