[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

You know, the concept of licensing media and software in the United States is at times a very questionable practice...

Originally Posted by HistoryWes

DRM is an issue for me, but not because I want to keep my books forever, though I do. My real problem is the inability to edit the metadata so that I can keep my library the way I like it...

Both of these issues illustrate the fact that software purchase and use is really not the same as buying and using a typical physical product. The problem is twofold: Consumers want software purchasing and use to be like buying and using a typical physical product, because they understand and are used to that; and sellers are too afraid to alienate customers by trying to make the reality clear to them.

The reality is that the consumer's rights vis-a-vis any purchased products are very limited, even to what they are considered allowed to do for themselves. In many cases, these limitations are not particularly bothersome--who gets really upset over the fact that they are not allowed to xerox and resell a printed book?--and so are not considered worth fighting over.

But in the case of electronic media, many things that are possible are also easy, making consumers more willing and interested in doing them. And by nature, anything that prevents a person from doing something easy is considered bad simply because it hinders you... the easier the task, the more heinous the block. (And by corollary, the more heinous the block, the more satisfying the breaking of that block. Ask any pirate.)

DRM, in theory, is NOT BAD. It's not immoral, unnatural, or illegal. It is especially not so when it is affixed to a product that you do not, in fact, have to buy. It's no worse than wanting a car that only comes with fob-operated doors. DRM is simply a sales contingent that the purchaser is free to purchase and thereby accept, or not purchase and thereby decline. If you decline it, you are free to try to (legally) obtain the product without the DRM you don't want, or with a different DRM that you are okay with. Or, you can advise the seller that you won't buy their product unless they change or remove the DRM, and hope they will accommodate you.

But ultimately, since it is your choice to say "yes" or "no," DRM is rendered a feature, no more or less, and no more or less important. It's not a vital organ... take it or leave it.

I believe there can be acceptable forms of DRM (which is not to say there are any, just that I think it's possible). But using them requires an effort by the seller to educate its buyers, and make them appreciate why their DRM is worthwhile (or at least not worth being concerned about). iTunes manages to do this... cable TV manages to do this. So it's not impossible.