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The Long, Slow Death of Digital Rights Management
Electronics | Aug 24, 07
Universal's decision to offer music downloads free of DRM, and, incidentally, of iTunes is just the latest sign of an emerging trend to eliminate copy protection.
The sans-Apple angle to Universal's move comes despite Steve Jobs' call for dumping DRM (see "How Steve Jobs Could Show He's Sincere About Eliminating DRM"). Jobs' herald has already been answered, however imperfectly, by EMI in its decision to offer at least some of its catalogue on iTunes without DRM, albeit at a slightly higher price ("So The Whole Digital Rights Fight Is Over A Lousy Thirty Cents?"). By offering DRM-free music through e-tailers like Amazon, Wal-Mart, Real and so forth – but not iTunes – Universal Music Group appears to be turning Jobs' initiative against him, using the persistence of DRM on UGM's iTunes downloads to engineer a competitive disadvantage for Apple, presumably to undermine the supremacy of the dominant player in internet music sales. Perhaps the intent is to acquire leverage in ongoing iTunes royalty negotiations with Cupertino.
Between the rather low value placed on copy protection by EMI and Universal's seeming use of the technology as a tool for corporate jousting, one has to question the anti-copyright violation arguments for DRM as put forth by the RIAA and others. Perhaps to truly appreciate this, one has to frame the issue historically. Remember when dubbing to cassette destroyed music sales, or when the VCR annihilated the market for VHS movies, or perhaps when the copy machine made book purchases a thing of the past? No? That, of course, is because these calamities, all darkly prophesied by the content industry, never occurred. I doubt these facts are lost on anyone, including the Cassandras of the music industry.
Thus, as indie labels and artists, having occasionally produced music someone might actually want to listen to, freely sell without DRM, the majors and the media colossi that own them may be realizing their flagging sales have more to do with lousy product than piracy. With high-def video downloads potentially threatening the DRM models of HD-DVD and Blu-ray ("High-Def Disks? We Don't Need No Stinking High-Def Disks"), I suspect the HD video market may be next to experience the death of DRM. But fear not, all ye DRM proponents; for a new recording technology will surely emerge and engender new calls for copy protection.
Foolish ideas, like the Phoenix, tend to rise from the ashes.
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 1:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Syllabus Savings
Books | Aug 12, 07
Overpaying for textbooks is no way to support your future Alma Mater.
Each year around this time I like to remind students that they may not be getting the best possible deal on required course reading if they make their purchases at their campus bookstore. To guard against overpaying, it's a good idea to get your syllabi in advance, check your school store's prices and use PriceSCAN.com's book price comparison service to see if you can get a better deal by buying online.
Now some might argue that encouraging students to eschew on-campus book purchases may deny institutions of higher learning much needed revenue, be it from a school-owned store, a chain operating on campus under license or a student co-op forced to kick back to the school. So if you're concerned about supporting your college or university, I have a suggestion. Take the money you save buying books online and invest it for the very long term. After three or four decades you could find yourself with a tidy sum, enough that when the time comes to secure a legacy placement for that underachieving offspring, you may find the admissions committee far more understanding ("a distinguished and generous alumnus like yourself should know we'd never judge an applicant purely on the basis of academic performance, or a police record … "). Or, consider letting those funds keep growing until you're in your golden years, and let it be known you're thinking about leaving the stash to your school. You'll find officers and faculty of the university listening attentively to your views on the academic enterprise, interrupting only to considerately inquire as to the state of your health.
But for now, if you and/or your folks are laboring to pay a backbreaking tuition bill while the specter of student loan payback looms on the horizon, why not give yourself a little financial aid and compare book prices online?
Posted by jeffrey.trester at 8:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
