DRM does not hurt consumers

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

It's surprising that no one has mentioned "DRM" in the context of the awful "Don't copy that floppy" days. Copy protection schemes were used by many companies, like Lotus, to "protect" their IP. So, if you had bought a copy of, for example, WordPerfect (another company that used copy protection on distro floppies), and your install floppy went bad, WordPerfect would charge you full price of the program to replace it.

WP would replace installation disks for a nominal fee provided you sent them the originals - I speak from personal experience; I was the IT manager of a company in the late 80s which used WP. It was people who had "lost" their original disks who had a problem. Given the level of piracy of WP (it was arguably THE most copied program at one time) it seems to have been a pretty reasonable support policy for the time. It wasn't so much individual piracy which was the issue; a far bigger problem was the issue of a company buying one copy of the program and then installing it on 100 PCs. That's what led to the formation of software industry associations like FAST and BSA which paid "bounties" to employees who "informed" on companies using unlicenced software.

Virtually everyone used copy protected floppies at one point, especially for games. It was a running battle between the various "bit copiers" and the companies devising new ways to protect software. Piracy certainly isn't a new phenomenon.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

My point? EVERY DRM scheme can be hacked, and will be hacked. And most, especially the ones that make it difficult for paying consumers to enjoy the content that they bought, will quickly disappear.

Well ... maybe not quickly — but we can certainly hope.

[wgrimm]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It wasn't so much individual piracy which was the issue; a far bigger problem was the issue of a company buying one copy of the program and then installing it on 100 PCs. That's what led to the formation of software industry associations like FAST and BSA which paid "bounties" to employees who "informed" on companies using unlicenced software.

Yes, the BSA, whose shoddy tactics include mass mailings to companies in a certain area, threatening use of Gestapo tactics against these companies. Never mind that they have not a shred of evidence that any of these companies are using any pirated software- they are just trying to fill their coffers....Trolling for gold.

I truly hope M$ and others keep it up- with "validation" schemes, threats, silly pricing (remember when a single license for M$ SQL server cost over 10K?). Because people, and businesses, WILL switch. The largest effect is already being seen in the developing world, where M$ just can't seem to realize these people cannot and will not pay the prices they ask. M$ sales are dismal. Even in Germany, Linux is routing M$.

And Ballmer is spouting off again, threatening to sue Red Hat over alleged "patent violations." But M$ won't show their evidence- looks alot like the scheme that SCO cooked up. But SCO is in bankruptcy now, while the courts continue to kick it about.

[Nate the great]

I thought everyone would like to know that the DRM that caused this particular problem has been cracked. It only took about two months to circumvent DRM that was supposed to last years.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/07/s...eta-cracks-bd/
http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=9453

one of the release notes (from the second link):

Note to Twentieth Century Fox: As you can see, BD+ didn't offer you any advanced security, it just annoyed some of your customers with older players. So could you please cut this crap and start publishing your titles on HD DVD? There are thousands of people willing to give you money.

[RWood]

Its funny that in those old days of floppy based DRM for software Lotus 1-2-3, dBase II and III, and WordPerfect were protected; but MS Word (for DOS) was not protected.

My response to the current Blu-Ray.DVD-HD problem is simple, I have only the older SD DVDs and the computers are a mostly WinXP with a smattering of Win2k, Win98SE, and a Linux box. I am not lusting after the new players. Heck, I still have a few VHS VCRs and one Betamax. (And yes, the Betamax still works.)