A Brief History of Failed Digital Rights Management Schemes 149
antdude points out this article at opensource.com on the "graveyard" of digital rights management schemes — the death of each of which has left customers out in the cold. An excerpt: "There are more than a few reasons digital rights management (DRM) has been largely unsuccessful. But the easiest way to explain to a consumer why DRM doesn't work is to put it in terms he understands: 'What happens to the music you paid for if that company changes its mind?' It was one thing when it was a theoretical question. Now it's a historical one ..."
Re:Some changes were quite good ... (Score:4, Informative)
What happens to the music you paid for if that company changes its mind?
Well in the Apple iTunes case the audio quality was improved and the DRM was also removed.
You left out the part where we had to pay 30 cents a song for the privilege.
On the other hand - even now, Apple still supports the original DRMed files if you choose not to upgrade - so this case isn't really a good example of a company "changing its mind" a la PlaysForSure.
history goes back much further (Score:2, Informative)
TFA only goes back to 1998. The history of DRM goes back much, much further than that, the only difference being that it was called "copy protection" rather than DRM. In the early 1980's, there was the first wave of mass-marketed personal computers: Apple II, TRS-80, etc. Software houses often sold games, for example, on 5" floppies in a format designed to make it possible to play the game, but to make it hard to copy the disk using the OS's standard tools. Computer users voted against copy protection with their feet. For one thing, there was no other backup format besides those unreliable 5" floppies, so if you couldn't copy it to another floppy, you were basically just paying to be able to run the software for as many years as the floppy was readable. Software houses started to realize how much users hated copy protection, so they stopped doing it.
Now we're just going through all the same stuff again, but with a new name, "DRM," and a new generation of computer users that hasn't wised up yet. They need to have their first experience of losing their investment in software, music, or whatever, and then they'll realize that they don't want to touch DRM with a 10-foot pole.
Re:What happens? (Score:4, Informative)
Exactly like I did with Star Wars.
I bought it on VHS.
Bought it on LaserDisc too.
Bought the special edition on LD.
Then came the DVDs, bought them too.
Now BluRay... guess what... Fuck You George Lucas and Fuck You media industry.
I now downloaded all my media and buy it when it hits a price I agree with.
Movies.. less than $5 in HD or $3 in SD.
Music.. no more than 10cents per track.
TV shows & anime.. under $1 per episode.
If the price never gets that low I dont buy but either way I'm happy.
That is my EULA and if you dont like it you know where you can shove your opinions media industry.
Re:What happens? (Score:5, Informative)
They'll still work just as well as they did the day you bought them if you haven't wrecked them.
Some of the first CD's I bought have become unplayable due to CD rot. Contrary to what the CD manufacturers want you to believe CD's won't last for ever. Nor will DVD's.