Quote:
Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
MP3's don't have DRM.  I'll assume you just mean "music file." And unless you're referring to a specific DRM that I'm not aware of, this is incorrect. |
My bad. I have the bad habit of calling "mp3" any digital music format.
(I also call any ebok reading device "e-reader", but don't tell JSWolf!)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
Also incorrect
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Speaking of mp3s, yes, it's incorrect; but the first times I bought music online from a website (ibazar), I could listen to that copy on my PC but could not copy it anywhere.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kali Yuga
You also couldn't share a cassette tape with hundreds of millions of your closest buddies. Nor could you make a copy (backup or otherwise) that had 100% fidelity, or could be transmitted in a matter of seconds to any location in the world. The game completely changed; what more explanation is required?
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A reason?
End users, any end users, didn't perceive the coming of DRM as protection for the author, but as a reductions of their rights (or what they thought of as their rights). As in "Yesterday I could lend my book to a friend, now I can't lend him the book I bought via my Kindle unless I lend him the whole Kindle, but then I can't read ANY of my books until he gives it back".
Rules changed? Sure. But nobody took the time to explain that to anyone, so people feel they are being abused since they do not have the same (perceived) rights as before.
Also, something worth considering: copyright laws do not work the same all around the world. Here in Italy we do not have the Kindle, and there is a very specific reason: there is no DMCA here.
Our courts, more than once, ruled that everyone here is allowed to strip his files (music, books, videogames) of DRM
if the purpose is to enjoy its content in a device that he owns. What is not allowed, here, is only illegal distribution.
For example: let's say that I buy Spore (the videogame from EA). To install it, I need to be connected to internet to "activate my copy". Unfortunately, there are still places in Italy where internet is not available, so I use a "crack" to strip it of this protection: I am doing it legally, because Spore's End User License doesn't forbid it explicitly and because I am doing it with the sole purpose of enjoying what I paid for. Legal, in Italy. Not in the USA, according to what I read on ign.com forums.
Another example: I buy a book with a Kindle. My kindle breaks, but I was able to make a backup copy of its content. Let's say that I am a genius and I find a way to strip my books of their DRM and convert them to be readable with a Sony device. This is legal, in Italy. What would be not legal is if I were to share these books via emule or torrent or other way, since I do not have the rights to do it.