Are We All Screwed?

[Nina DiBoy]

The ability to make backups of content I buy - impeded by DRM
The ability to listen to music I purchase in any way I choose - impeded by
some types of DRM


I was referring to general 'living room experience'.

A computer is vastly more complex to operate than a simple DVD player -
which isn't a barrier to me using it, to you using, to the majority of the
people here using it, I know that, but it _is_ a barrier to use for a lot of
people.

A computer is usually louder, more 'intrusive', more fault-prone, and I
think probably consumes far more energy than a simple DVD player.


Can't argue with that one. The question is whether or not the users realise
the very high price they have to pay for this ability.


No problem. The Sony DRM-protecting rootkit affected, heck INfected anyone
who played a single one of the problem CDs, regardless of whether or not
they wanted to "play premium content".

What is the definition of "premium content"? My understanding of it is
the following:

http://computing-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/premium+content

Digital content on the Web that is not free. It is downloaded for a charge.

But is this a dated definition? Is the term premium content being
applied in a wider sense (not just applying to digital content on the
web anymore)? If so, how far is it being stretched? Is a music CD you
pay for in the record store premium content?

And what defines something as premium content? Is it the monopolistic
file formats?

Some kinds of DRM mean that if I want to play music from both my laptop and
my desktop, I would need to buy the track twice, or pay extra and perform a
lot of extra work to burn the tracks to CD as music, which I can then have
to re-sample on the other machine.

There's your "proof".


I respect your point of view, you raise some good points, but you're
ignoring the main thrust of the whole discussion here - not whether or not
people want to do this, not whether or not it is really nice that Windows
Vista can do the job, but whether the high price being extracted by the
content owners and being paid "on our behalf" by Microsoft is worth it.

--
Priceless quotes in m.p.w.vista.general group:
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/kick.html

"Good poets borrow; great poets steal."
- T. S. Eliot