As far as putting limitations on digital content, that's their right. It is _their_ content. If they make the wrong decision, they'll come around when someone smarter makes the right one.
I think this is just the point. Thay have made the wrong decisions. Again and again. We now have a situation where all of the DRM incentives so far actually stimulate piracy. Because circumventing the rights management results in a better consumer experience.
Here's an example.
I own hundreds of DVDs - I was a classic early adopter. I like to get movies early. I live in the UK and the movie studios like to release movies later in Europe. So I own a large collection of Region 1 DVDs. I also rent a lot of DVDs perhaps 3 or 4 per week. These are all Region 2.
But the DVD drives in Apple computers are all region-locked. Five changes and that is it. So you have to pick. Rented disks or dvd collection.
So thanks to a studio-imposed attempt to control the market. They are undermining my legitimate enjoyment of my own movie collection. I do not feel grateful to them for this. It might be their right - but it is morally wrong.
As a customer I resent their interference. I regret paying for so many disks because my experience has been soured. If you are a loyal customer, your loyalty should be rewarded and not punished.
The way to beat piracy is to identify loyal paying customers, and guarantee them a better, more convenient, more rewarding experience. Send them newsletters. Give paying customers free iPod versions. Give them behind the scenes extras. Shiny boxes, free competitions. Reward them for paying.
But instead they are so terrified of piracy, that publishers are willing to ruin the experience of paying customers in the impossible hope that it will slow down the access of non-paying customers.
Consumers punish this sort of behavior. And they have a right to do that - even if its only a moral right and not a legal right.
I think this is just the point. Thay have made the wrong decisions. Again and again. We now have a situation where all of the DRM incentives so far actually stimulate piracy. Because circumventing the rights management results in a better consumer experience.
Here's an example.
I own hundreds of DVDs - I was a classic early adopter. I like to get movies early. I live in the UK and the movie studios like to release movies later in Europe. So I own a large collection of Region 1 DVDs. I also rent a lot of DVDs perhaps 3 or 4 per week. These are all Region 2.
But the DVD drives in Apple computers are all region-locked. Five changes and that is it. So you have to pick. Rented disks or dvd collection.
So thanks to a studio-imposed attempt to control the market. They are undermining my legitimate enjoyment of my own movie collection. I do not feel grateful to them for this. It might be their right - but it is morally wrong.
As a customer I resent their interference. I regret paying for so many disks because my experience has been soured. If you are a loyal customer, your loyalty should be rewarded and not punished.
The way to beat piracy is to identify loyal paying customers, and guarantee them a better, more convenient, more rewarding experience. Send them newsletters. Give paying customers free iPod versions. Give them behind the scenes extras. Shiny boxes, free competitions. Reward them for paying.
But instead they are so terrified of piracy, that publishers are willing to ruin the experience of paying customers in the impossible hope that it will slow down the access of non-paying customers.
Consumers punish this sort of behavior. And they have a right to do that - even if its only a moral right and not a legal right.
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