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Empirical Study Shows DRM Encourages Infringement

Posted by timothy on from the next-week-how-gravity-lures-skiers-to-mountains dept.

Hucko writes "Ars Technica has a story about a study by Cambridge law professor Patricia Akester that suggests (declares?) that DRM and its ilk does persuade citizens to infringe copyright and circumvent authors' protections. The name of the study is 'Technological accommodation of conflicts between freedom of expression and DRM: the first empirical assessment.'" The study itself is available for download (PDF); there's also a distillation here.

6 of 375 comments (clear)

  1. It's true! by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I never pirated any games until the day my storebought copy of Doom 3 flat out *refused* to work on my computer because the installer was convinced my setup meant I was going to make illegal copies of it. I got pissed off even more when movie DVDs started refusing to run in my laptop as well.

  2. DRM is pushing me towards piracy by Andy+Smith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I stopped buying PC games about a year ago due to DRM technologies such as SecuROM and StarForce, because of the faults they can cause when burning CDs, which is an essential part of my job.

    Last month I bought a new mid-spec laptop and went shopping for an "old" game that would run on it, and I settled on Civ4. After buying it, I discovered that it too uses SecuROM so I will not install it. Instead, I think it's morally (and legally?) acceptable to download a pirate copy without DRM.

    A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and I both bought The Sims 2. Neither copy worked! I've since discovered that the copy-protection on the DVD is known to cause installation errors, and one of the recommended workarounds is to install the disk imaging software Alcohol, and this indeed allowed us to install the game. Alcohol can of course be very useful for people who want to pirate games.

    I feel like games publishers are pushing me towards pirating their products. I don't want DRM to harm my system, and if the only way I can play a purchased game is to pirate it then how long will it be before I skip the purchasing?

  3. Even BBC's Have Your Say has got the plot by pzs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We're accustomed on Slashdot to saying that the general public is not aware of the issues surrounding DRM and file sharing. However, this debate seems to suggest otherwise. I know the HYS debates are often full of ranting morons but it is still an audience of non-experts. Looking at the most recommended comments there seem to be quite a few people who know what's going on.

  4. Re:At last by silanea · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What happens when steam goes bust?

    What has happened every time digital restrictions interfered with the desire to use some content: Someone will break the protection. In Steam's case this has already happened for many games.

    --
    Rudolf Hess edited Mein Kampf. He was the very first grammar nazi.
  5. Headstrong.mp3 by PinkyDead · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My daughter wanted Ashley Tisdale's Headstrong on her iPod. (Please no comments - I'm ashamed enough as it is).

    We can't get it from iTunes because we use Ubuntu.

    We can't get the mp3 from Amazon.com because you have to be US resident.

    We can't get it from Amazon.co.uk because you have to have a UK billing address.

    We can't get it from Amazon.ie because that doesn't exist.

    So I have a choice, buy the whole album on CD from Play.com or pirate it....

    I'm getting a bit sick of this malarkey where I'm told what I can and can't buy with my money. Obviously, I accept the principle that Xyz has the rights to sell something in this market, but if Xyz won't sell it to me then I say screw Xyz.

    So this news doesn't surprise me - the more you tighten your fingers yada yada yada...

    --
    Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
  6. Re:and the pirates win again by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Or you can just stick the disc in the player, go make popcorn and when it's ready the movie has reached menu. What's so difficult about it?

    I'm not talking about media you purchase, but media you rent.

    Ripping it is faster, more convenient and removes the corporate propaganda. If I can't remove the propaganda, I won't watch it at all, and I won't let my kid watch it.

    You would be surprised how jarring it is once you've freed yourself from it... like someone who grew up in the city going camping for a month in the wilderness, then coming home to realize that they've had people shouting in their ears their whole life and that they never realized how much their thinking had been muddled and their senses numbed by what was being done to them until they finally got free of it.

    Once you actually experience it for yourself, you start to feel like someone who just realized they've been abused their whole life and didn't know.

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth