|
DRM is inconvenient and has the potential to be very, very evil. And is getting more evil all the time.
Like the way DVDs are encrypted; ostensibly to prevent copying. Except it doesn't, because you can copy a disc verbatim, encryption and all, and still play the copy in a DVD player.
What the encryption is actually meant for is to restrict the means by which you play back the DVD. Any manufacturer of a DVD player buys a licence to implement the CSS decryption needed for playback.
But I don't have a TV, and so I don't have a DVD player. I do want to be able to watch DVDs though on my computer. But I don't use Windows, I use Linux. Fortunately the CSS encryption was very easily cracked, so I use a decryption library that allows me to play back DVDs on my computer. This software is illegal under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), because open source developers cannot get a licence. They can't get a licence both because they can't afford the fee, and also because they would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which is completely incompatible with open source software.
But think about it this way. I have legally purchased all my DVDs, which ought to confer a licence to watch the content. I have not infringed any copyright. But the copyright holders are wanting to control the means by which I watch them!
|