On 1/7/2008 10:41 AM, Mehmet Ergun wrote:
In plain English, when you buy DRM'd media, you pay as if you were
buying that media, but you actually are renting it for the purchase
price... eBooks that won't let you print them, iTunes music that won't
let you change computers (kind of), almost all DVDs, etc are examples
of this in use...
I basically agree with you, and I hope one day, when joking about old
technology, we'll be able to say, "Remember DRM?"
But since you mention "renting," there is one limited circumstance where
DRM is useful. Services like Napter, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, etc. let
you make a deal with them: You get DRM-crippled tracks and thereby
agree to give up certain rights (burning a CD, listening on most OSes,
including Linux ...), but in exchange you can listen to pretty much
whatever you want, whenever you want, on your PC (for about $10/mo) and
(for about $15/mo total) also on a "PlaysForSure" mobile device, for as
long as you continue your subscription.
For me, this is a reasonable trade-off. If I hear a song I like while
listening to, say, KEXP.org, I can usually (but not always) find the
album on Napster. (Random spot check with a song they just played:
Sebadoh's album Harmacy: yes, it's there). I can't afford to buy every
CD I might want to check out. If I really like the album, I can buy a
burnable copy, though at that point I'd rather have the CD.
Of course, Microsoft seems to have abandoned PlaysForSure with the Zune,
and you begin to get into the nightmare of figuring out which type of
DRM will work with which device.
-David
Have a look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6337781.stm
For the first part of the second question, I don't use emusic, but I
searched for "Eminem" there and it gave me this very informational
page (which kinda makes me want to use emusic):
http://www.emusic.com/search.html?mode=x&QT=eminem&x=0&y=0
For the second part of your second question, it's a whole big essay
:)) and not so much related to Linux as an OS... But in short, I would
buy a CD... But I would still use a website like
http://www.riaaradar.com/ to choose which music I buy and stay away
from RIAA-backed stuff...
Thanks,
Mehmet.
--
David Eisner
CALCE Center University of Maryland
