Quote:
Originally Posted by Boston
While you may not mean it, I really didn't appreciate the tone of your response.
It felt like an attack an attack of what you perceive to be my values and promotion of yours.
I said "tempted", I didn't say "would"..all I was trying to to point out is that drm is a deterrent for many. For example, I know many people who occasionally share mp3s with friends...because the lack of drm doesn't make them think twice that what they may be doing is wrong. I'll ask how they like something and the response is "I can make you a copy". (And for the record, I still buy my music).
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i apologise, i wasn't questioning your ethics or your behavior at all, i was questioning the effect of drm, and i'm sorry if that was unclear from my post. i certainly did not intend for it to seem an attack in any way. if you say it works as a deterrent to you, i believe you ; however i don't believe that on a larger scale it is effective.
sharing music among friends didn't start or stop with drm ; when i was a teenager, i made (for myself, and for friends) and recieved many mix tapes (remember those ? ah, nostalgie...) to share music i loved with friends, or to commemorate a special event, or to create an ambiance for a party... i still have many of those mix tapes (which, ironically, i can only listen to by converting them to mp3, since i no longer have a cassette player). now, if a friend finds a new artist he thinks i'll like, he might send me an email with an mp3, or a link to deezer. but, if i like the music, i'll still buy the album, because i want to support the artists i like.
with books it's the same ; i can't even count how many authors i've discovered because a friend lent me a book, and how many of my own books i've lent to friends (some of them i never saw again
if i could lend out my ebooks i wouldn't have that problem). when you lend a book to a friend because you've discovered this brilliant author you're sure they're going to love, you're passing on part of our shared culture, and creating a larger audience for the author. that friend, if they like the author, will probably go on to buy more of their books.
admittedly, digital files take sharing to a whole new level ; instead of making one mix tape for one friend, you can share you entire music library with the whole world. but i really do think that most of us are capable of making the disctintion, and of deciding for ourselves what we think is right. i don't think drm will really be a factor in those choices, for the majority of people.