DRM will be diluted until it reaches a subliminal level (in terms of customer awareness / acceptance). With VHS VCRs, that was Macrovision, which was non-annoying to most users and easily circumvented (with copyguard buster boxes) by those who cared enough and spent enough to do so. It worked well enough for the content producers to be less than actively malcontented, and poorly enough for people who really cared to get around it.
This is sort of the situation we have now with copy-protected recordings: the copy protection works well enough for companies like Sony to feel comforatable making releases (though they are going to have to find some new method after the rootkit fiasco, obviously)-- they have settled for reducing the number of seeds or sources to unauthorized distribution channels. This may be where the balance is finally struck: DRM just restrictive enough to stop the casual user from distributing or seeding. Coupled with lower prices to the public **AA may have steady and tolerable sales, even if unsatisfactory in terms of their historical business practices.
If SCO's lawyers were halfway intelligent (a few are) they had the license read that the buyer paid to resolve an uncertainty about the requirement of a license and to assure freedom from suit while the issues were litigated. This means each licensee got what he paid for. No refunds.
IAAL and I can say courts are careful to do everything right to prevent reversible error. When a court closes a case it wants it to lie dead, not resurrect with nine more lives like a cat.
Besides, don't you remember the college bromide: If it's green and slimy, it's biology. If it smells bad, it's chemistry. If it doesn't work, it's physics. And if it takes forever, it's law.
Reference to Jarndyce v. Jarndyce in Bleak House where the litigation went on so long, the estate wasn't worth fighting over any more. (Not that seems a bad thing from my own perspective. (grin)
The IPod has a stellar "coolness" factor, but I tell everyone considering one to get an Ipaq instead. Maybe a bit less memory in most configurations, but WiFi, Bluetooth, Web browsing; or interface to your GPS, remote-control just about any IR device, print, use Word, Excel, read Ebooks, receive streamed video from your home server.... and of course, Solitaire. If you're not flush with extra cash, why get a less-capable device for more money?
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This is sort of the situation we have now with copy-protected recordings: the copy protection works well enough for companies like Sony to feel comforatable making releases (though they are going to have to find some new method after the rootkit fiasco, obviously)-- they have settled for reducing the number of seeds or sources to unauthorized distribution channels. This may be where the balance is finally struck: DRM just restrictive enough to stop the casual user from distributing or seeding. Coupled with lower prices to the public **AA may have steady and tolerable sales, even if unsatisfactory in terms of their historical business practices.
If SCO's lawyers were halfway intelligent (a few are) they had the license read that the buyer paid to resolve an uncertainty about the requirement of a license and to assure freedom from suit while the issues were litigated. This means each licensee got what he paid for. No refunds.
Q: What is a layman? A: It's what attorneys call the people they screw. (grin)
IAAL and I can say courts are careful to do everything right to prevent reversible error. When a court closes a case it wants it to lie dead, not resurrect with nine more lives like a cat. Besides, don't you remember the college bromide: If it's green and slimy, it's biology. If it smells bad, it's chemistry. If it doesn't work, it's physics. And if it takes forever, it's law. Reference to Jarndyce v. Jarndyce in Bleak House where the litigation went on so long, the estate wasn't worth fighting over any more. (Not that seems a bad thing from my own perspective. (grin)
The IPod has a stellar "coolness" factor, but I tell everyone considering one to get an Ipaq instead. Maybe a bit less memory in most configurations, but WiFi, Bluetooth, Web browsing; or interface to your GPS, remote-control just about any IR device, print, use Word, Excel, read Ebooks, receive streamed video from your home server.... and of course, Solitaire. If you're not flush with extra cash, why get a less-capable device for more money?