Scary Stuff
If you think DRM sounds bad now, read this:
www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
I have trouble believing it's as bad as Ross Anderson thinks, but who knows?
I personally don't find Phil Schiller's remarks disturbing at all. If Apple knew a way that you could use copyrighted materials fully WITHOUT being able to use them illegally, there's no reason why they shouldn't. The problem is that DRM as Microsoft and others have it set up takes away a people's fair rights to use copyrighted material.
Talking about copy-protected CDs one article pointed out, "... the move will 'anger millions of [the music industry's] best-customers who have become accustomed of making copies [of CDs] for their own use,' which is allowed under 'fair use' provisions of copyright law."
Actually part of the above quote in there is from Congressman Rick Boucher....nice to know that there are some congressmen with our rights in mind, because quite a few only are considering the idustry side of things.
So anyway, DRM seems opposed to both current US law ("fair use") and also a lot of what Apple is trying to do. Apple wants sharing music to be easy, but not copying it. Look at the iPod...Apple hasn't made it impossible to copy music from it to another computer...they just don't make it as easy as it could be.
A huge problem with all this DRM stuff is that once an illegal copy is made of a movie or song, the game is over. "Break once, play anywhere." Copy protected CDs and other such technologies are just going to push more people, who up to now have been playing by the rules and buying everything, to find file-sharing services to get copy-able versions of music/ movies they have purchased but can't use fairly. Will these people still want to pay $18 for CDs once they know how to download the music for free?
People will ALWAYS break these systems. 1. It's a challenge that many people like to take on. 2. If it's worth protecting, it's probably worth the money to break the protection. 3. The "analog hole"...eventually you have to put all of this into sound waves and an image on a screen. There's lots of equipment out there that can capture information in these forms....quite easily actually.
I've heard that with Windows Media player, music you rip can't be moved to another computer unless you you turn off DRM before ripping it (please correct me if this is wrong....I do all my ripping in iTunes, of course). Worse yet the latest version of Windows Media Center has statements in the EULA (where you have to click "Agree" to install and use the software), that gives Microsoft the right to go into your computer at any time and change your software and OS or even deem that your older music isn't legal and shouldn't be playable anymore.
How dumb is Microsoft? I hope that all this stuff they're trying to do turns off lots of people who'll then turn to the Mac as a better alternative....a system designed with them primarily in mind rather than the music and movie industry.
I'm sure people at Apple have looked long and hard at this trend. Usually they tend to call such shots better than others, and I'm pretty sure they're doing the right thing in regards to DRM. They're R&D money is better placed elsewhere.
Sorry this was so long...my job involves looking at TCPA and Palladium and so a lot of this has been on my mind...I'm especially interested in how Apple fits into all this...now we know at least a little better.
