DRM and Democracy

jar writes to tell us Bruce Perens has a short editorial on why DRM could have an impact on much more than just our record collections. From the article: "Within the last century, electronic communications have increasingly become the vehicle of democratic discourse. Because radio and television broadcasting are expensive with limited frequencies available, the wealthy have dominated broadcasting. The Internet and World Wide Web place into the common man's hands the capability of global electronic broadcasting. [...] In order to protect democratic discourse in the future, the Internet must remain a fair and level playing field for the distribution of political speech. The full capability of the Internet must remain available to all, without restriction by religious, business, or political interests."

Comments

just cause its tolerated doesnt mean its not bad

[plasmacutter]

Apple iTunes Store has been selling DRM music for several years now. And the world is still here. People love their iPods and their DRM music.

no people tolerate and conume their DRM music because the government, media, and huge multinationals have been threatening them with lawsuits and imprisonment and brainwashing them into "guilt" with propaganda and outright lies for 7 years.

You can't judge weater people like it when it is the only "legal" option out there. That would be like saying people in iraq "loved" saddam because he was the only "choice" for a leader.

Basically, mainstream America is fine with DRM.

while most americans are not familiar with the name of DRM, they consider it's effects to be nothing less than a plague. I can't tell you how many "mainstream" people have requested my help to rid them of the restrictions imposed by DRM they had ignorantly purchased.

This brings up another good point.. how can america be "fine" with something they know little about. There are not consumer protection laws which mandate companies tell them. As it is now most of them don't know the restrictions even exist until after the purchase is made, and it will only get worse as products come out with "Revocation" and "selective output control" built in.

Implemented properly, it's a reasonable part of a solution to a the real problem of widescale IP theft.

and the idea that it can be "implemented properly" can be filed under the same fallacy as supply side economics.

just as supply side economics cannot succeed because of the invariable human nature that is greed and moral hazard, "properly implemented" drm cannot succeed because of the fact that all DRM schemes are merely security through obscurity.