Talk:DRM

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can someone explain this a little better for the ingnorant among us?75.62.26.190 08:25, 17 October 2007 (EDT)

Mission[edit]

This is a rant not an article Susanpurr 15:36, 7 November 2007 (EST)

Than edit it so its not a rant. Elassint Throw things at me 15:38, 7 November 2007 (EST)
See you've taken out your ranty bit Elassint. Susanpurr 15:53, 7 November 2007 (EST)
Sorry Elassint, I do receive income (not much yet) from publication so I'm a bit sensitive on the subject. Susanpurr 15:58, 7 November 2007 (EST)

Counter of the 'Straw Man'[edit]

Unfortunately, the counters given in the article to the downsides of DRM (which, by the way, aren't 'straw men', as you can now actually see software with rather draconian restrictions on the market right now) simply don't hold water:

  • Imagine if you only paid 25c for that book on the basis that is was a 1 read book, or you could pay $25 for the normal version.
Well, that's not what's happening. What is happening instead is that you are expected to pay full price for a product that is limited in it's usage over another equivalent product without DRM, or with DRM that is less restrictive, and your choice is 'pay full price, or don't buy it'. And that is assuming you actually know about the restrictions imposed by the DRM before purchase.
  • Imagine how helpful that may be for sensitive and secret information.
It would be helpful - but not if it is applied to all documents, whether they are sensitive and secret or not. For documents that are not sensitive and/or secret, it simply is an inconvenience and a complete PITA.
  • Why would anyone buy such a phone?
Because they aren't informed of the precise details of the restrictions until after they buy the phone.

Of course, the big negative about DRM is entirely left out of the article, and it is this - it doesn't work. Certainly in the most common usage of restrictive DRM schemes, games, there has yet to be a scheme that has not been hacked, cracked or bypassed, sooner or later, and it seems that the more of a challenge the DRM is (which usually corresponds with how restrictive it is), the more determined pirates are to hack it. Zmidponk 20:53, 24 June 2008 (EDT)

Why not add at least your last paragraph to the article? PS, I heard there is a disc floating around with XP Pro, doesn't phone home, no serial number required, come with SP2 built in... just a rumor, though. Hell, people out there find ways to bypass "dongles" with trivial bits of code... ħumanUser talk:Human 22:22, 24 June 2008 (EDT)
Well, I don't want to add my last paragraph of the above, as that is my perception of the state of DRM, and I'm trying to keep any article I edit, here or elsewhere, neutral, even on issues where I, myself, am biased (here I tend to be against DRM, simply because it tends to get overly restrictive on the end user, which is me). I may see if I can find a way to add it as 'a claim by opponents of DRM'. As for your rumour...well, let's just say I know it's NOT just a rumour, even though I do actually own a legitimate copy of Windows XP. Zmidponk 08:11, 25 June 2008 (EDT)