DRM (Digital Rights Management)

[Ryuzaki]

But what does it mean!?

Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies are basically those technologies used to prevent the unauthorized copying of digital media (mainly music, films and software). The term also covers technologies which are used to enforce limited access policies on digital media (such as the ‘Windows Genuine Advantage’ scheme). DVD content has been encoded in a scrambled form since 1996, music CDs had various forms of copy protection between 2002 and 2007, and most non-open-source software includes copy protection. Recent examples of DRM include the Apple iTunes store which restricts music sharing, Microsoft’s Zune Player which only allows a certain track to be streamed a limited number of times, and Windows XP and Vista’s online verification requirements. Part of the debate over the BluRay .vs. HD DVD format discussion also concerns DRM technologies.
The relevant legislation in both the US and EU stems from a push to enforce the provisions of the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. Both the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998) and the EU Copyright directive (2001) protect DRM technologies in addition to making simple piracy illegal by prohibiting technologies which strip DRM systems from media and by prohibiting reverse engineering of DRM technologies. The core of this debate is not over whether media should be open-source of not but rather whether DRM is the best and fairest way to prevent piracy. The burden of the proposition is likely to involve proving that DRM is bad for one or all of a) consumers, b) artists and c) the viability of the media industry. The opposition typically aim to show that DRM is a necessary and legitimate means of combating piracy, as well as of balancing competing interests.

DRM=CRAP

Now that you know my opinion, what do you all think??

[Akaitsuki]

[WAR]

Okay, l'see here... okay, you're a record producer, right? You find some indie band that blows you off your feet and you sign them. Everyone LOVES the CD, but oddly enough, you're not getting near as much money as you were expecting! Why? Because some asses decided to go ahead and shove it onto Kazaa. Now listen up. I don't subscribe to the thought that just because a corporation is big it's evil. All that money you pay for CDs an' things isn't exactly gross profit. They've still got to pay the bills. Employees, power, phone bills... the amount of money left over is positively tiny! Now okay, I still think that most copy protection is filled with bull, simply because you get Ye Olde BSOD, and they've messed up pretty hard considering a few scandals here and there, with one installing root kits into your computer, but that just shows how desperate they are to stop them.

Now hold on another second. I do in fact copy CDs and give them to friends and family, so on. Because to a certain degree, it is my property. The only thing I really have a problem with is the huge filesharing networks like Kazaa and BearShare.

[boogieknight]

According to rumor, the recording industry inflates sales to launder money, so why should they get in a tizzy over a little piracy?

Seriously, piracy and bootlegging is not good in general. However, theft of product is always a factor in any business, but I'm afraid that the industry is using tactics that are a little too heavy handed. Remember the stories that Sony was considering making the PS3s so that a game could only be played in the first machine it's played in? This typifies the attitude among businesses that all customers are potential criminals. Thieves should be prosecuted, but overreacting will just alienate the consumers.