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4 comments:
Or you could just buy DRM-free MP3s to start with (or buy a CD and rip it - technically infringing copyright, like anyone cares).
Or you could do what I've been known to do (very) occasionally: download a copy of a track from a dodgy Russian MP3 site, and then also buy a DRMed copy from iTunes. So then the artist and label have got their revenue, and I've got a copy I can actually listen to. Again, technically infringing copyright, but in a way where I can look myself in the mirror afterwards. :-)
But yes, I love that cartoon. Captures the commercial folly of DRM schemes perfectly. And the "things change" aspect is far from theoretical: witness the way in which Wal*Mart has switched off its DRM servers, leaving its pre-February 2007 customers with unplayable music, and a choice to either pay for their music twice (yeah, right, very likely) or either obtain "pirate" copies or try to circumvent the DRM.
Well it's right, isn't it? If you want to keep content you've collected, such as music, then get it on a format free of DRM. That way "It's yours for life".
Some vendors are going over to non-DRM'd formats, such as mp3, and this is to be welcomed (though I prefer flac, which give better reproductive quality).
Yo ho ho, and let's chug a goblet of grog.
Don't ever buy products with mandatory DRM. Never ever!
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