Aaand Steve switches to "moral high ground" mode again, apparently forgetting his earlier ranting. You seem to do this a lot, but it doesn't look so good when we have the whole thread to look at. It is kind of hard to take the moral high ground when you are covered in mud.
But hey, fine, back to the subject at hand. Which is... DRM.
Quote:
|
DRM is one of many tools that may or may not achieve that, and so they should be discussed... not dismissed simply because it's not the preferred method.
|
To which I replied, DRM has been an abject failure thus far. I'm not dismissing it out of hand, I'm pointing out it has been a disaster. And the thread is about an alternative suggestion, gently nagging the consumer/pirate. I don't know if it will work.
Assumptions:
1 honest consumers buy all their goods
2 pirates, um, pirate all their goods
3 there is some overlap and some edge cases, let's call them semi-honest.
I do not know in which quantities these groups exist - I think how you group them will have a massive impact on how you view the need for DRM or other restrictions. I'm operating under a 80/15/5 view, which may or may not have any traction with reality. Given that the major movie, music, and book industries have not gone bust, it is obvious not all consumers are pirates.
Now introduce restrictive DRM. Pirates will hardly be bothered at all - they will simply break through the restrictions. Honest customers will be bothered the most - they feel restricted, because they are. The edge cases and honest consumers may swing a little more towards piracy.
Now introduce this "social DRM" - which doesn't really fall under DRM, more like "nagware".
Honest consumers will not be affected. Neither will pirates. It might have some effect on the edge cases.
All in all, I do not see it will accomplish a lot.