What’s the fuss with DRM?

Mon, Sep 22, 2008

First thing I am going to say is, I know I am going to catch a lot of crap with this post. That being said, what is all the fuss about with DRM? Maybe I am weird, But I have no problem with it on the music that I buy from iTunes. I wish it was less strict with the TV shows and movies in iTunes though.

I constantly hear people online complain about DRM, how many computers do you need to put your music on? I keep all my music on my iMac and use SimplifyMedia to share it with my macbook and my friends. I have never just burned a data CD full of music for my friends, If they want something I just burn it as an audio CD for them.

If DRM is such a problem for you, then buy the actual CD and rip it to your computer, or Download off of Amazon’s horribly put together MP3 store.

Where I don’t think DRM should exist is on games. Spore which recently came out has DRM on it. That is one I don’t understand. But I guess there is always that fear that they will make a image of the game and torrent it.

Now like a lot of people, I used Napster when it first came onto the scene. I hated Metallica for going after Napster too. But I was always willing to pay for music if available and have it fairly locked down.

Maybe I don’t have a problem with DRM because I am a musician and I believe that there needs to be some limitations on sharing music.

I would really love to hear your thoughts on this subject. If you want to rip into me, then go ahead. But I am really curious about this subject and why so many think I am wrong for having the views that I have.

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This post was written by:

Corey Harris - who has written 17 posts on Macgasm.

Corey Harris considers himself a Professional Geek. Playing with technology from an early age starting with the Commadore 64 and the VIC 20. Growing up always having something tech in the house and learning Qbasic programming at an early age. Now Corey loves every thing Mac, loves learning different programming languages and is a beginner in the lifecasting genre. Corey is also a Professional Wrestler based out of the mid-west area and Professional Magician.

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kevin 2 months ago 2 points
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DRM limitations on number of devices, generally, applies to all devices it will ever be used on. Go check ArsTechnica article on movies bought for PlayStation 3. If you want to keep a movie you've bought you must retain that PS3 for all time. No upgrading (except hard drive) and moving over, etc....

iTunes Music Store isn't so restrictive as you can easily move music to new devices, but if Apple ever shuts down ITMS you could be stuck with unplayable music. This is unlikely but both Yahoo and Microsoft have turned off DRM servers for music they've sold screwing all their customers.

As a musician you should study business models of how your music is distributed instead of blindly accepting what the RIAA states. DRM has not, nor has it ever prevented copying of music. The one thing that has reduced copying is availability of legal methods of obtaining music electronically. iTunes Plus and the Amazon MP3 store exists because record companies recognize this but don't want to admit it publicly.

The only time DRM is some what acceptable is for movie rentals and subscription services that allow moving content to a portable device, i.e. times when you don't own the content.

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Corey Harris 2 months ago 1 point
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Kevin, i appreciate your feedback. One thing that I really like about iTunes is how iTunes Plus will check your music and see if you can upgrade to DRM free from their music. While I know some don't want to pay again, I have no problem with it. Plus it is not so expensive to upgrade. I upgraded over 60 songs the other day for under 10 bucks. I think if Apple were to ever implement a subscription plan for iTunes, we would see the music we actually pay for to buy become all DRM free and any thing through the subscription become a tighter DRM which I would not have an issue with at all. But again, I am have an odd outlook on things.

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Jason Hamilon 2 months ago 1 point
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I agree that for music, its not so bad. Because I have an iPod, and I don't really use Linux anymore as a desktop OS, it doesn't bother me that much. I think most people complain more from an ethical point of view than from a real day-to-day point of view. But it does keep me from listening to my music on a Linux box, or putting everything on a data mp3 cd to play in my car's CD player. A step further is that before I had an iPhone, I had to carry a nano or something in addition to my cell phone. That sucks. I had a Samsung Sync, which was a damned good mp3 player, but I couldn't play any of my iTunes music on it.

And for videos, its stupid. There is no option to burn out to DVD to watch on your tv option. We can burn music CD's out as audio and listen to them on the stereo, but with video we have to buy an Apple TV. That's pretty insane.

I buy a lot of my music of Amazon now. If iTunes has an iTunes plus version I typically decide on price/extras which one to buy. I haven't really had too much trouble with the amazon store so far. They do have a problem with the fact you have to go through so many screens to purchase something you can't get back to where you were looking, but, meh.

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