The consequence for me is that sometimes for no good reason windows media player freaks out and tells me that it can't play the remainder of a legally purchased DVD.
There's nothing wrong with my drivers grumble grumble grumble...More seriously the existence and widespread use of DRM technology indicates a lack of respect for the privacy and sovereignty of an individuals own computer. I know that position seems more than a little extreme, especially if the existence of such things serves only curb illegal activity (which would result in the easier distribution through acceptable channels), but it's not just that. The DRM software causing problems here is far from perfect. Not only does it frequently give a false positive and lock down on acceptable use (forcing me to use software without any DRM baggage), but it's quite ineffective against any pirate with a shred of determination.
As an emerging technology it's forgivable that not all the bugs have been worked out of things like the DRM above, but the bigger problem is that DRM often takes the form of a piece of software that tries to install itself on a computer without the express permission or knowledge of the user and runs quite inefficiently. In essence, that software is stealing system resources from the consumer in a desperate attempt to prevent the user from stealing content. One high-profile misuse of this technology is the rootkit scandal.
3 comments:
Nice post. This definitely links up with stuff we'll talk about later in the semester. No doubt, though, softwares such as the one you describe are becoming ubiquitous (not to mention annoying for users trying to legally use the software already installed on their computers).
The idea of a copy protection system is really rather old, just last month I ran into a crude form of it whilst attempting to transfer a slowly-degrading VCR tape from the late 80s over to a blank DVD as a back-up.
I suppose part of the problem is that the traceable parts of both pirating and more honest actions (traceable meaning detectable by the CP software) are identical up until actual distribution, and so all such actions are hindered on principle.
In a related topic, I think that media companies, especially record labels, will need to find ways to adapt with the tides of change. Simply bracing against the digital revolution can only serve to further erode the customer base which they are trying to maintain. At this point, they cannot compete with illegal downloading in terms of accessability, conveniance, or price. Obviously, they can't compete with free, but they should start woring on the other fronts.
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