Comments on: Anti-DRM Doctorow Utterly Demolished http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/2006/08/06/anti-drm-doctorow-utterly-demolished/ kthxbai Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:01:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Spencer http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/2006/08/06/anti-drm-doctorow-utterly-demolished/#comment-12688 Spencer Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/?p=2607#comment-12688 I think he entirely misses the point. Yeah, there’s legal ways to get music on the iPod (I didn’t see Cory claiming there wasn’t), but the DRM of any iTunes track you buy only further reduces your choices if/when the iTunes + iPod platform is no longer useful to you.

Buy DRM’d music from the iTunes Music Store

Which locks you into the iTunes + iPod platform. Legal, sure. But really stupid.

Buy and rip CDs

Assuming there’s no DRM on them, otherwise, probably your best option.

Buy DRM-free music from eMusic

I’ve not tried it, but without the DRM you will still have your options.

Buy DRM’d music using any system that lets you burn CDs, then rip it

And degrade the quality of what you legally own. This is not logical.

Download free (public domain, Creative Commons-licensed, etc.) music

Perfectly reasonable, but limits you to the “indie” arena. Which is fine for some of us. :)

Subscribe to music-focused podcasts

Is this a sort of plug for Information Salad?

So why the angst in his pants?

Like I said, I think he missed the point. It’s been said before, but nobody wants to do less with their content. Nobody wants to have activate and deactivate licensing when they get a new computer. Nobody wants to login to Steam just to play Half-life 2 (next time I’ll read the fine print a bit more carefully—fool me once). All DRM and the DMCA does is remove consumer rights for legally purchased content and make it illegal to get those rights back. No, Apple didn’t create DRM, but who ever said they did? And no, Apple doesn’t force you to buy DRM-enabled content, but how many people realize the ramifications of their actions now? I would venture to say that most don’t, because, right now, it works. And when an iPod killer does come to market, they’re going to wish they hadn’t spent $2500 on iTunes music. That’s part of the point.

And with the DMCA propping up the DRM iTunes+iPod platform, it makes it much more difficult for a newcomer to grab any sort of market-share.

Even if you never wish to transfer your iTunes music to a portable device, you’re still stuck with iTunes—unless somebody’s broken the law already and made a WinAmp plugin to play iTunes music.

Cory won’t be happy until every single piece of content ever created is 100% free.

I don’t really think he believes that (unless by free you mean “free from DRM”), otherwise he’d be a bit of a hypocrite for selling his own books.

Ug, sorry… I’m rambling… this was probably too big for a comment. I need a nap.

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