Why is it that all the things that big companies do to thwart the scofflaws only effect the honest consumer. DRM on downloaded music and video is the the entertainment industries attempt to keep pirated music and movies from being shared all over the internet. The problem is, the bad guys know how to get around this. So….the content is still being distributed illegally all over the internet.
Meanwhile, the honest consumer who would like to make a CD, put a copy on a second computer, or add the song to their MP3 player often has difficulties. I too recently had a bout of frustration with an Itunes album I downloaded. Now I’m no computer expert but I’m not computer illiterate either. Imagine what some poor guy who occasionally uses his computer to check mail and read my blog goes through if he has problems with his DRM music.
This article outlines what DRM really means and how the terms can change without you even knowing. How would you feel if you burnt a few CD’s from your play list,say one for the car, one for the house, and one for backup. Then you move, misplace them, and decide to burn a new copy of the music you legally paid for only to find out that you have exceeded your limit of burns for that play list. What?… but I paid for it. Why can’t I burn it as many times as I like? Why? because you don’t really own it.
Now, how about if the site you legally purchased your music goes away, changes DRM, or some other event that disables your ability to do what you want with your legally purchased music. “That will never happen” you say. Read this article about those exact circumstances. You may not even know you got hosed.
The bottom line is this. The entertainment industry does have a problem with pirated content. This has always been the case though. The digital age has made it easier for the bad guys to do their job but if the industry was focusing on keeping the paying customers happy, maybe there wouldn’t be any body going to the dark side for their tunes.
I hope the industry gets on board with Amazon. They are doing DRM free downloadable music. Hopefully this is the first blow to the technology that hinders the masses who legally purchases music from enjoying it for years to come.
Scott
