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Gamers, EFF Speak Out Against DRM
Last month, we discussed news that the FTC would be examining DRM to see if it needs regulation. They set up a town hall meeting for late March, and part of that effort involved requesting comments from potential panelists and the general public. Ars Technica reports that responses to the request have been overwhelmingly against DRM, and primarily from gamers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation also took the opportunity to speak out strongly against DRM, saying flat out that "DRM does not prevent piracy," and suggesting that its intended purpose is "giving some industry leaders unprecedented power to influence the pace and nature of innovation and upsetting the traditional balance between the interests of copyright owners and the interests of the public." Their full public comments (PDF) describe several past legal situations supporting that point, such as Sony's fight against mod chips, Blizzard's DMCA lawsuit against an alternative to battle.net, and Sony's XCP rootkit.
I realize it is 16 pages long, but please read the EFF's submission. It clearly explains that DRM isso completely effective in the restriction of piracy that the simple threat to shutdown DRM servers (Yahoo!, MSN, AOL) sent users scrambling for legal measures to prevent the shutdowns. The loss of the servers would make all the DRM-covered items useless - the exact opposite of ineffective piracy measures.
Now, they also argue that DRM prevents users from using their legally-acquired items in legal ways, and that has some weight. But as a piracy deterrent, DRM is actually quite effective, if you are to believe the EFF.
Maybe different people wrote the submission. That would explain the contradiction between the summary and the details.
Why bother to fight DRM? DRM is not the problem, the problem is that distributing DRM workarounds is illegal. Instead, why not go after the root problem, the DMCA?
The DMCA wasn't, in itself, a bad idea. What happened was that there was no attempt made to stop companies misusing it, and this lack of early intervetion is a cause of many of the present problems.
They should have realised it wasn't working as planned as soon as companies started using DMCA takedown notices to disrupt the trading activities of other companies.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
After a year without TV just reminds me how pathetic the whole thing is. People act like consuming entertainment media is air that you need to survive.
DRM does not prevent piracy
Correct. Wire-guided missiles prevent piracy. A well-placed naval warship prevents piracy. What DRM prevents is the non-destructive copy of a copyrighted work. This is annoyance, not murder
Pirates are people who invade ships and deny them to their owners by force of arms.
Mind you, there are times when I'd like to put DRM proponents into a Zodiac painted "Billion Dollar Cargo" and send them adrift off Somalia, but that'd be crossing the line I think...
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear