[advocacy] DRM in OGG - A Proposal

[Daniel James]

> You can not implement DRM without infringing on consumer rights.

That depends whose rights you are managing. The problem with DRM is that the
process has been driven (so far) by neither artists or music lovers. It's the
creation of the business interests from the pre-digital distribution era.

The killer question is: is a particular DRM system designed to stop people
from acessing content, or is it designed to collect royalties for artists?
Every DRM vendor would claim that their system does both, but how many
musicians have ever received a royalty cheque from a DRM vendor?

If a DRM system stops people listening to a particular artist, then that
means the chances of collecting a royalty, or even indirect payments via
CD's, touring or merchandise are zero. While non-DRM content exists, people
will choose that instead - and their dollars, euro, and yen will follow.

At the moment, if an artist is heard on the TV or radio - or even at a gig in
a pay-to-play support slot - we don't assume that every person in the
audience will buy the CD as a condition of the right to listen. DRM vendors
hope to extract payment from 100% of listeners - I guess that's why there's
such an enthusiasm for DRM amongst the big record labels with flat profits.

It can't work if only 50% of music is sold via DRM, especially if the small
labels without DRM have the best new music. That's why the content industry
wants hardware-enforced content policing, like Palladium. It'll be because it
won't be optional, not because software-only DRM is easier to crack.
Fortunately there's more than one CPU manufacturer in the world and a genuine
choice in operating systems...

Since the artist can't own any current DRM system, it's just one more method
of giving control over their work to the content industry - regaining the
control it lost in the 90's. It's not impossible to conceive of a DRM system
that limits the rights of the content industry, while safeguarding the rights
of both artists and listeners. It might need a different acronym though!

Daniel
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