"DRM" in Ye Olden Days

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by murg

DRM - Demonic Rights Management

That's a good one.

It can apply equally well to modern day DRM.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

That was the one Atari reverse engineered and let to the court battles that solved nothing but got walled gardens certified as legal, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_...of_America_Inc

Yup

They'd have been OK if they clean-room reverse engineered it.

[ApK]

I wonder if the BMPHs (Big Medieval Publishing Houses) published any stats on how effective the curses were at deterring theft.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ApK

I wonder if the BMPHs (Big Medieval Publishing Houses) published any stats on how effective the curses were at deterring theft.

This entire thread has been a non sequitur since the original article concerned attempting to prevent theft of physical books rather than preventing copying of Imaginary Property.

[DiapDealer]

Theft of a physical tome did not equate to a lost soul.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Theft of a physical tome did not equate to a lost soul.

Would that be harsher than 5 years hard labor for the theft of a loaf of bread?

[DiapDealer]

Possibly. Didn't really think about it. I was just riffing on the juxtaposition of current DRM/piracy sentiments with their possible medieval counterparts (with a dollop of word-play thrown in for good measure).

[crich70]

Originally Posted by murg

DRM - Demonic Rights Management

Probably the same era as these two gentlemen.
(supposed t be Introducing the book in English. drat).

[murg]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Would that be harsher than 5 years hard labor for the theft of a loaf of bread?

Bring transported to Australia to serve out that sentence.

[murg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Theft of a physical tome did not equate to a lost soul.

This gives me an idea for a Kickstarter campaign.

A Bluetooth locator device for your soul.

If your soul ever goes wandering, you can find it again. Also, when your soul does depart this world for good, you can set it up to automatically lock your mobile phone.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by murg

This gives me an idea for a Kickstarter campaign.

A Bluetooth locator device for your soul.

If your soul ever goes wandering, you can find it again. Also, when your soul does depart this world for good, you can set it up to automatically lock your mobile phone.

I'm afraid the copyright holder has an eternal renewal on it murg. Otherwise I imagine Steve Jobs would have bought the rights.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Possibly. Didn't really think about it. I was just riffing on the juxtaposition of current DRM/piracy sentiments with their possible medieval counterparts (with a dollop of word-play thrown in for good measure).

In the days before the printing press, copying books by hand was the done thing. That was the way most students came by their textbooks. It was a lot more work for the reader, but they didn't have to worry about no intellectual property rights.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by rkomar

In the days before the printing press, copying books by hand was the done thing. That was the way most students came by their textbooks. It was a lot more work for the reader, but they didn't have to worry about no intellectual property rights.

Back then a large library was a sign of wealth as well. One french king (I think Louis 14th) had a large library of 24 books.

[sabredog]

I thought the fact that probably 90% of the population in the Middle Ages could not read would be a pretty effective form of DRM.

But I guess those massive manuscripts make effective fire lighters or worse for the average serf.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by sabredog

I thought the fact that probably 90% of the population in the Middle Ages could not read would be a pretty effective form of DRM.

But I guess those massive manuscripts make effective fire lighters or worse for the average serf.

Not just the middle ages.

There is a long history of book abuse through the ages, not including the burning of the big one in Alexandria or religious cullings:

http://flavorwire.com/526833/8-weird...of-the-library

Also, the war against genre fiction by the elites goes back a while, too:

But the commonest problem… was the novel, a literary form that from midcentury, the era of Fielding’s Tom Jones, Richardson’s Pamela, and Mackenzie’s The Man of Feeling, was sweeping all before it in public taste, much to the horror of many critics…
The issue with novels was, or was usually held to be, twofold. One concern was that narrative fiction seemed to be so constructed by manipulative and morally bankrupt authors as to sensationalize or white-wash bad behavior and encourage emotional incontinence among readers through blatant titillation.
The other worry, closely related to the first, was that such literature was also simultaneously much more likely to appeal to and therefore to lead astray those vulnerable readers with the weakest constitutions, specifically women, the young, and — a fascinating Georgian Georgian perception — servants…” — David Allan

Yup. Gotta be careful not to let the rabble get ideas.