“Whether you’re a buyer or a seller of a product, the essential goal of standardization is to make interoperability possible, allowing communication with anyone else using the same protocol and media. In some cases though, vendors have specific reasons for not being compatible – and those vendors have developed a standard for incompatibility, digital rights management. The goal of DRM is to limit compatibility because things which are compatible can be copied and distributed freely. In this article, Peter Seebach looks at a potential oxymoron – standards designed to subvert and prevent interoperability.”
I’m not sure why this one don’t have a comment yet… but well…
It’s a great article! It explains the concepts about why DRM isn’t always what’s advertised, about weak standards and vendor lock-in; very well and it’s an article good and informative enough to be passed by some friends, even the ones who don’t care/understand too much about technology/devices/content technical details.
Probably few posts yet because the article’s preaching to the choir. Shocking – something we all agree on *gasp* is it possible? ROFL.
:p
So you have your rights until DRM strips them away?
only thing surprising about this text is that its on a ibm page
no wonder microsoft wants to get over to a live world fast, then they can get payed pr feature you access, not pr install you do…
The technology being referred to is Digital Restriction Management. Let’s not sugar coat it for the readers.
Why do we continue to use the euphemism “DRM” when we talk about Fair Use Circumvention Kits? C’mon boys, we should call `em as we see `em!
I see you failed Business 102: “Business 101 was wrong, lie cheat and steal from the customer; he’s always wrong!”
DRM: Because otherwise no one would make movies and music, cause they didn’t until now…
“(and for those of you who might be morally challenged, you might also have a more concrete legal obligation — so you might as well be safe)”
There are a couple of excellent reads in the Resources section of the article as well.
is a good product at a fair price.
“The most successful form of DRM is a good product at a fair price.”
For those who need a translation: “If we do not agree on a price, I will steel it from you.”
Go tell your local storeowner that the best protection from shoplifting is a good product at a fair price and see if he does not immediately grasp the meaning.
Given your ethical impoverishment, here is a fair question: Do you do your shopping as Anonymous as well?
Do you do your shopping as Anonymous as well?
My answer to this is: Yes. I don’t have a “points card” and I pay with cash.
Every shopowner (not manager) knows full well that the best way to stop shoplifting is with good service.
Some companies, Walmart, are too cheap for this and instead hire security services to make up for their understaffed stores which are staffed with underpaid employees doing most of the theft.
The best way to stop most theft has always been treating the customers right, there tends to be side effects where things end up “policing themselves.” In the case of shoplifting: A store filled with happy employees will be watched better than one half-empty with under-appreciated employees. It’s a very conservative concept which, if I am guessing your political orientation correctly, should appeal to you.
Outside of that, that’s why the government hires police forces. Abusing your customers is only going to make more of them willing to steal from you. It will alienate even more, and just generally show your anti-capitalist views (capitalism being about consumers, you being about property).
Also, I’m voting you down for insulting other posters. I hate it when people vote me down anonymously, so I’m telling you.
Since when does DRM have anything to do with copy protection?
DRM is all about control.
Controlling who plays what and when.
Controlling what you pay to who and when.
DRM was never designed stop content pirating, far from it. People who make mass illegal copies of software/audio/video will not be stopped by Sony abysmal rootkit software, nor was this software designed to stop them.
Get it into your heads: DRM was design to control *you*.
For those who need a translation: “If we do not agree on a price, I will steel it from you.”
I said nothing of the sort, buddy. I don’t steal anything. The fact is DRM only affects honest consumers. Pirates will always find a way around DRM and honest people are left with the headache of trying to get their “CD” to work as it should.
How is Linux going to fit into this DRM stuff? Has Linus spoken on this?
well linux does support that key chip that i think apple are planing to use to lock their os to apple approved systems or something like that.
beyond that its not his area to comment on as everything else happens in user space.
still, drm have both a good and a bad side. it can lock company email to company machines, but it can allso remove the fair use rights of products paid for.
i wonder tho, can one put drm on a toaster so that only approved bread is put in the slot and nothing else? o wait, thats not a fair use issue, thats a user stupidity issue…
it’s copyright infringement, very different you moron.
Ultimately, it will be the consumers who decide whether DRM will succeed in a free market.
Got capitalism?
In a free market DRM wouldn’t work, but thanks to laws like the DMCA DRM can do a lot of damage. This sort of attitude will not compete with the media lobbies and you should lose it if you enjoy having your fair use rights.
Well DRM is what they think is going to keep music paid for. How about the artists do what they use to. Produce music for that album.
Megadeth have recycled their stuff over and over only releasing one new song… I have bought every album that has all original songs. $30 for one song is not worth it… Bands get out tour and stop sitting down donating your time instead of money. And actualy go earn it no sit write a song and pawn it off as something new…
There is already a standard and it has always been there it is called MP3/OGG and doesn’t restrict your rights.
No one is using DRM out there, most people is not shring files on P2P sites but exchanging CDs & DVDs full of MP3/OGG files.
Vendors just waste their time trying to please recording companies with their fool DRM plots.
Ultimately, it will be the consumers who decide whether DRM will succeed in a free market.
Except, of course, that with DRM there is no free market.
The fact is DRM only affects honest consumers. Pirates will always find a way around DRM and honest people are left with the headache of trying to get their “CD” to work as it should.
So true, remember the first games protection where you have to find the word from page 36, line 57, word 12 of the manual.
In fact, even when i bought a game, i download the pirate copy or the remove protection hack to get rid off all these annoyances.
Just click and play, no stupid question, no cd to insert.
Especially the nocd patch, why put 3go on my hd if it’s for insert the CD when i play !
And it’s because i can found a nocd patch that i bought a game, otherwise, i would found the game too much crippled and not worth to buy or play it !