2006 - The Year the General Public Realizes What a Bad Idea DRM is

With all that's been going in the area of fair use and Digital Rights Management (DRM) lately, could this be the year that the general public begins to realize that DRM does nothing to protect artists and labels from getting fairly compensated, but stomps all over the rights that the general consumer has always considered legal?

Will the Video IPod be the catalyst that opens the eyes of the public? Consider this article/commentary:

Apple Computer's video iPod may not be the first portable movie player, but it is by far the best.

The one serious flaw in this svelte little device is how difficult it is to load with video. Apple's otherwise handy iTunes application flatly refuses to transfer a legally purchased DVD to the iPod.

Don't blame Apple for this glaring oversight. You can thank our esteemed public servants in Congress.

In 1998, politicians bowed to pressure from the entertainment industry and voted overwhelmingly for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Part of that law made it a federal offense to sell or distribute software that can rip DVDs.

In other words, believe it or not, Apple CEO Steve Jobs would be guilty of a federal felony if iTunes transferred DVDs to an iPod as easily as it can music from a CD.

While these Draconian penalties have angered digital-rights types for years, the prohibition really hasn't affected a broader audience. But the recently released video iPod changes this and--if we're lucky--will prove to be a flashpoint that sparks actual reforms.


I encourage you to read the whole article.