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Fight DRM While There's Still Time

Posted by kdawson on from the call-to-action dept.

ageor writes "It seems (not only) to me that DRM is about far more than intellectual property. It's also about monopoly and freedom of choice. It's one of those cases where we, the consumers, must decide against accepting the new industry's rules, which care only about control and making money. The whole matter is very well put in DRM, Vista and your rights, where you can follow the subject as deeply as you like through the numerous relevant links."

7 of 424 comments (clear)

  1. Avoid defective by design by kherr · · Score: 5, Informative

    I agree, people need to avoid buying bad products. For me that means not buying stuff from iTunes (I troll used CD stores instead) and avoiding one of the biggest DRM sneak-attacks going on, HDMI. People are getting snared by the HDMI trojan, because it's such a convenient way to interconnect devices. But as we're starting to see with HDMI implementations on TiVo Series 3 and Vista, HDMI is going to be used to screw everyone.

    Note: I disagree that the iPod is defective by design, because it does not require DRM. It still works with the open formats of MP3, AAC and AIFF.

    1. Re:Avoid defective by design by TeknoHog · · Score: 4, Informative

      HDMI is not the problem, HCDP is. HDMI is a convenient version of DVI with audio, while HDCP can also work over DVI.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    2. Re:Avoid defective by design by Graymalkin · · Score: 4, Informative

      What a red herring. There's no physical or logical lockouts on music on an iPod. The interface of the iPod relies on song indexing. When songs are added to it they're given a four character file name which is much cheaper to store as an index in RAM than a 255 character name. The song's metadata is added to the iPod's database and displayed in a variety of ways. Smart Albums and different sorting methods (by Artist, Album, Song, Composer, etc.) aren't going to work without an index of the device's content. Dragging files to arbitrary directories is not condusive to indexing as the iPod would then have to store file names up to 255 characters and do all the indexing itself instead of the host computer. A 2GHz PC can do the indexing and file organization a lot faster than an 80MHz iPod. A feature to make the iPod useful to a large number of people and an effective device is definitely not a defect.

      If you want drop and drop support stop complaining about the iPod and go buy a player that supports it.

      --
      I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
    3. Re:Avoid defective by design by AusIV · · Score: 4, Informative
      Way to troll. iPods not being able to drag and drop has absolutely nothing to do with DRM. Apple uses iTunes to simplify the iPod interface. Many average and below average computer users (the target audience for iPods) have to be instructed on how to view their C drive in windows explorer. iTunes creates an incredibly straight forward interface for putting music on your iPod. It also streamlines indexing so the iPod can find files quickly and easily, decreasing the delay between tracks.

      The directory structure of iPods, while complicated, has been used by a number of third party applications. There is a program called ephPod that allows Windows users to manage their iPods without a iTunes, and I use Amarok for Linux to manage my iPod, which uses libraries from gtkPod, another program for managing iPods.

      Nobody's forcing you to use an iPod if you don't want one, but I'm able to use my iPod without DRM on the operating system of my choice with software of my choice. Just because iPods are capable of playing DRM doesn't mean they're limited by the DRM.

  2. DRM List by solitu · · Score: 4, Informative

    Someone posted a good list about Vista's DRM against XP's DRM http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2007/01/25/ 519180.aspx

  3. AAC is not by Apple, and not DRM only by zoeblade · · Score: 4, Informative

    Considering that the article cites Wikipedia, it's curious how it perpetuates the myth that AAC was "invented and promoted by Apple." While Apple is one of the corporations using it, and it does support FairPlay, it is possible to have completely non-DRM-encumbered AAC files. I've ripped most of my CD collection into AAC format using iTunes with no restrictions placed on how I use those files. The format wasn't invented by Apple either. From Wikipedia: "AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including Dolby, Fraunhofer (FhG), AT&T, Sony and Nokia, and was officially declared an international standard by the Moving Pictures Experts Group in April 1997."

  4. New Zealand's own DCMA by Blancmange · · Score: 4, Informative

    Now's a good time to oppose this bill:
    http://www.brookers.co.nz/bills/new_bills/b061021. pdf

    Particularly obnoxious is Section 226. Breaking a technological protection measure (TPM) even if only to play music you legally bought can land you in prison - unless you're one of the 'qualified' persons such as a librarian.

    This blog I picked from a list of Google hits has a fair bit to say about the bill:
    http://artemis.utdc.vuw.ac.nz:8000/pebble/2006/12/ 18/1166402040431.html

    --
    Blancmange