__/ [ Mark Kent ] on Tuesday 27 June 2006 13:14 \__
> begin oe_protect.scr
> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>> Richard Stallman Calls to Liberate Cyberspace
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>| 'the point is, we shouldn't be passive victims! We should decide that it
>>| will not happen! And the way we decide that is by activism. We have to do
>>| everything possible to make sure that those products are rejected, that
>>| they fail, that they give bad reputations to whoever makes them.'
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060625001523547
>
> I have a lot of time for RMS's concerns here. DRM could do as much
> damage to real innovation as the drive for proprietary software did at
> the hands of Microsoft. How long before DRM techniques, along with
> patents and other laws are used to shore up another "industry" such that
> it can grow on the back of restricting the freedom of ordinary people?
What I keep thinking to myself are scenarios where images (WMP?) get DRM'd as
well. What's next? A world where everything is encrypted? Will standards and
transparency be abandoned because they are less profitable or prone to
become the victim and catalyst for imitation?
DRM is the application of secret-keeping (e.g. PGP) to everything else in
life. It's like a world where everyone lives in a box. Some boxed may be
green (Sony DRM), some boxes may be yellow (Apple DRM) and some may be blue
(Microsoft DRM). No green entity can communicate with yellow, for instance.
This leads to fragmentation in society and industry. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are
other similar example, which conflict with ideas such as the CD-ROM.
> I noted recently that France was considering dropping its levy on 'blank
> media', but /only/ for DRM enabled players, ie., those which do /not/
> support open formats. This is an appalling prospect, but serves to
> illustrate the dangers of this kind of thinking.
Definitely.
And at the end of the day, DRM-reliant industry profits more at the expense
of the customer, who not only spends more money, but is also robbed from the
ability to access own data (at present or future).
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Bring home the world cup, England!
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
1:20pm up 60 days 18:23, 11 users, load average: 1.33, 1.07, 0.86
http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
|
|
