Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Anyway, no, we're not there yet. However, it's clear to me that without pesky things like copyright laws and DRM, we would be there right now...
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I am again confused about what copyright laws have to do with drm, concretely.
Copyright laws are useful and arguably necessary, if only to protect authors/publishers not from Joe downloader, but from rival publishers who could always undersell them if they do not have to pay for the content itself. Terms, conditions, fair use and so on are all arguable points, and the necessity of copyright laws to be in step with the times is also obvious, but I do not think that people by and large argue to abolish copyright.
DRM on the other hand has nothing to do with copyright. It just prevents the paying customer from enjoying his product, while doing nothing to protect anything. I really would like to see a concrete example where drm prevented something appearing on the darknet. Even when the e-book does not exist, if it's popular or it has a cult following it gets scanned sooner or later.
The one argument that it prevents sharing among friends, acquaintances and so on, is also moot considering the large number of people using p2p. In any large enough group for "casual sharing" to be a problem the chances are there will be also enough people to know how to use the darknet to get anything available without drm...
(check the Ars Technica article I posted in the
40k needed to fill an iPod thread, where it has been found that 36
million PC's have Limewire on, and there are other clients too, plus all the file sharing sites, all the warez forums, irc, Usenet...)
Personally I do not think the sky is falling; there is some turmoil and confusion, and some careers will tank while others will take off that would not have had a chance before, but overall I do not see the disappearing of content or of means of profiting from it by its creators and enablers.