[Catlady]

Originally Posted by stonetools

This site is full of that. DRM is a copyright protection scheme. Some people remove DRM for entirely innocent purposes. Many more do because they intend to violate copyright. The law is aimed at the second group, and cares little about the first.

You are seriously saying that the majority of people who remove DRM do so in order to distribute illegal copies? Seriously? More people are UPLOADING to file-sharing sites than are simply stripping DRM because it interferes with their personal use of material they purchased?

On what grounds do you make such an outlandish claim? Back it up, please.

Hard to understand why the first group gets so outraged over the very idea that they may be considered as being bundled in with the second .

Let's call it profiling. I'm being eyed with deep suspicion not because of anything I've done, but simply by virtue of my membership in a class called "book buyer."

When I go to a bank, I understand that the security guard is there to stop the bank robber, and that the bank does not view me, their customer, as a potential thief.

When I leave the bank, the security guard does not follow me around to make sure I don't do anything "bad" with my money. I can spend it in riotous living if I like. It's mine.

I don't get the vapors when the RFID detectors go off when I walk out of a store after making a legit purchase, even though it (momentarily) brands me as a potential shoplifter. I understand why some stores keep small, valuable items in closed displays, (although I would prefer that I freely handle them) and don't get mad at the storekeepers for taking precautions, even though it shows a lack of trust in me as a potential customer. Maybe I'm just thick-skinned, and don't understand that storeowners should never take precautions to protect their property, because that would be branding the customers as potential thieves.

I guess you've never been a teenager, or worn a bulky coat, or been a member of a minority group, such that you aroused the suspicions of the store personnel the second you walked into the store. Because if you had, you would know how demeaning it is to be treated like a potential criminal.

In any case, your analogies aren't on point. The store is taking precautions to make sure you bought the merchandise; once it's paid for, that's the end of the store's interest. DRM is something that inhibits the customer after the sale is concluded--after the customer has fulfilled his or her obligation to the seller.