Wednesday, June 21, 2006

'DRM' Protects Downloads, But Does It Stifle Innovation?

'DRM' Protects Downloads, But Does It Stifle Innovation?
conversation between Wendy Seltzer and Friz Attaway (MPAA)
Wall Street Journal, publication date: 20 June 2006
"DMCA-backed DRM lets the majors dictate the terms, well beyond price, on which we can use and interact with media. It makes copyright's limited monopoly into a technology regulation, a gate on hardware and software development through which only 'approved' devices can pass. More sophisticated DRM will not improve that problem, just make the approvals more onerous and the range of consumer electronics smaller.

Nobody wants a door lock that locks its homeowner out too often. The law can support DRM in the short term, but as more and more honest people trip against its restrictions on their noninfringing activities, I predict they'll press Congress to change the law to allow for creativity in media and technology again."

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