To DRM or not to DRM?

Posted by Daniel Shain

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The RIAA hasn't had much luck with taking file-sharing offenders to trial and getting anything out of them. At the same time, data is showing that music is taking a decreasing role in BitTorrent sharing, largely as a result of decreasing DRM usage. Think the record companies are looking at this data and seeing what seems obvious?

The RIAA doesn't like their music being pirated. That's obvious, and fair. They've taken two people to trail over this, Joel Tenenbaum once (but it will probably be at least twice), and recently we noticed attorneys gearing up for our third round of Thomas-Rasset. You'd be forgiven for thinking these trials seem to be a little confusing, with juries and judges mixing up damages from anywhere between a few thousand and a few hundred thousand dollars per pirated song, and record companies offering settlements which defendants refuse for an assortment of legalese reasons. At the same time, common sense and increasing slew of data are showing us that, by and large, people aren't really pirating music anymore. The reason is likely that there is now an inexpensive and alternative method for purchasing music, and in particular wonderfully DRM free music.

This is not the case for tv and movies, which represent the bulk of what's being pirated on BitTorrent and other places. Think there's a lesson to be learned here? Of course, this data is far from conclusive, but it makes sense. Common sense tells us that the average person doesn't want to steal, but wants to shell out big bucks for a stunted product even less. Give them an affordable and reliable way to legally own, and they probably will use it. DRM isn't that.

Credit to ars for finding the always hilarious xkcd above.

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  • By: udtek.com Feb 08, 2010 3:57 AM

    The reason is likely that there is now an inexpensive and alternative method for purchasing music, and in particular wonderfully DRM free music.

    http://udtekbattery.wordpress.com

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