Blood on the tracks: DRM debate heats up.
(crossposted from CreativeFreedom.org.nz)
The NZ Herald reports 
on the growing extremism from music industry representatives pushing for DRM which makes legally purchased music expire, and prevents copying of legally purchased music to iPods, cellphones, and other digital devices… “Someone really does need to tell this guy that the market doesn’t want DRM, online store providers don’t want it and the sooner the MPAA, RIAA and their international subsidiaries realise this the better we will all be using the energies otherwise wasted in debating it to focus real issues such as global warming, or why toast always lands buttered side down on the kitchen floor.” DRM for music and movies is a failed experiment that doesn’t prevent copying (name one song or movie that didn’t appear online within five minutes) but it does inhibit the legitimate use of legally purchased songs and movies. In February 2009 an interview with a DRM provider admitted that that people may have to repurchase DRM music after 6 months , and “As DRM authentication servers would be in turn shut down, the tracks would be rendered unplayable”. With this kind of behaviour from movie and recording companies it’s unfortunate but perhaps not surprising that customers are turning to illegal workarounds or to illegal downloads where, ironically, they’re not treated as criminals. Music that self-destructs in 6 months is exactly the kind of thing that is harming uptake of legal digital music services.
