vowe dot net :: Repeat after me: DRM is bad for the customer

Repeat after me: DRM is bad for the customer

by Volker Weber

Mark explains how Sony f*cks up your Windows installation when you play (one of?) their CDs. I have seen too many hosed Windows systems to tolerate this behaviour.

Tags: drm+is+bad+for+the+customer

2005-11-01 :: email :: twitter :: facebook :: google+

Comments

1. DRM is not for the customer at all, it's for the vendor.
2. I don't think DRM is bad in itself, but bad if poorly (and dangerously) implemented like in this case.
3. I always keep the shift key pressed when I insert a copy protected muci CD in my office PC to rip it into iTunes. This usually prevents any player installation from launching.

Thomas Cloer, 2005-11-01 12:43

DRM is almost everytime referred to as Digital Rights Management.
This is wrong.
DRM means Digital Restriction Management, and with this wording it should become clear what it's for and who benefits from it.

Karsten W. Rohrbach, 2005-11-01 12:53

So.... Apple's approach doesn't seem so bad anymore, does it?

Thom Rosario, 2005-11-01 14:16

Thom, repeat after me: DRM is bad for the customer.

Volker Weber, 2005-11-01 14:26

Ich frage mich, ob das nach deutschem Recht überhaupt zulässig wäre? Es sieht doch sehr Computer Sabotage aus. Oder irre ich da?

Gerhard Heeke, 2005-11-01 14:54

Sony and their accomplices are acting like criminal offenders. Would YOU by something from a criminal offender? Me neither!

Richard Kaufmann, 2005-11-01 16:35

DRM has allowed me the ability to buy just the songs I want, online, 24 hours a day.

You fail to see the bigger picture.

Thom Rosario, 2005-11-01 20:29

If you say so.

Volker Weber, 2005-11-01 20:31

Thom, did you also buy Your Reality 2.0™ online? And what kind of weird DRM method did they use to provide you with this product?

Karsten W. Rohrbach, 2005-11-01 23:32

I posted a comment on this some time ago.

Link

Ben Rose, 2005-11-02 12:32

I don't see what the problem is, Karsten. I can *easily* remove the DRM from my purchased songs if I want, giving me continued access to them in whatever format I want.

Pros:
-- Buy just the songs I want off of a cd
-- Buy the songs online
-- Buy the songs 24/7, whenever the mood strikes me
-- Ability to remove the DRM if I wish
-- Compatible w/ my iPod
-- Price savings compared to buying physical CDs (roughly 50% more for real CDs)

Cons
-- Have to remove the DRM to play on other devices
-- Cost of blank cds (about 10-15 songs fit on a cd)

What's so bad about that? It's not uncommon to have to sacrifice some things in order to enjoy the benefits of other things.

If we hadn't all agreed upon using currency, we'd all still have to carry around pigs and cows to barter w/ other people. The pig farmer has to convert his pigs to currency in order to purchase goods, and it's an extra step, but I'm sure he's GLAD to do it because it means that he can interact w/ the rest of the world.

In this case, I accept the minor annoyance of having to remove the DRM from my iTunes-purchased songs if I need them in another format because the rest of the equation is so compelling.

Thom Rosario, 2005-11-02 13:57

Thom,

If it is so easy to remove the DRM (which it is, I know), why put the DRM in in the first place? Where's the added benefit for you as a customer to have the DRM when you remove it later on anyway?

Stefan Rubner, 2005-11-02 14:20

Stefan -- the benefit is that they were able to sell the idea of digital song sales over the internet to the record companies. Without *any* DRM, the deal would've never been approved.

DRM allowed that deal to go forward. It was the enabling technology.

Thom Rosario, 2005-11-02 19:41

Thom, don't you see the irony in it? The whole scheme is based on the record companies being dumb and ignorant. The moment they wake up to the fact that even with the current DRM technologies in place there is a lot of piracy going on, they can only do two things:
1) Count their revenues and realize that they do make money even with all the piracy and non-working DRM technologies in the market. The logical conclusion would be to get rid of the biggest cost factor, the DRM technology, and keep selling online.
2) Get even more paranoid, develop even more restrictive DRM, stop selling online and put even more money into developing still more DRM technologies which in turn will ultimately lead to even more potential buyers being unable to listen to and therefor refusing to buy music.
Whichever way you look at it: "DRM is bad for the customer". It's even bad for the music industry. They just don't realize that yet.

Stefan Rubner, 2005-11-02 21:22

Uninstaller für Sony BMGs Kopierschutz-Rootkit

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/65688 (in german)

Ralf Hammen, 2005-11-03 09:45

This argument seems to be going somewhere, anyway:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4424254.stm

Nick Daisley, 2005-11-10 14:09