Say No to DRM

Twenty points to the person who can pick out what this post is going to be about judging by the image to the left. In fact, make it thirty, I’m feeling generous today. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen; Tonight I’m going to be talking to you about so called “Copy Control” technology, DRM, and a good helping of band loyalty.

I was going to delve into the world of buying music online. Well, I’ve already done that with varying degrees of success, but the point is I wanted to download a track from an artist-operated web site to add to my collection. Supermassive Black Hole from Muse, if you’re interested. Maybe I’ve been spoiled so far, but I’ve never actually come across an artist pushing DRM-ed music.

For people who don’t know, and I’d be suprised if you don’t, DRM is a blanket term for electronic measures designed to stop you enjoying your movies and music. It stands for “Digital Rights Management,” although “Digital Restrictions Management” is a more accurate description. So far, the only valid use for it is imposing and enforcing frivolous restrictions over what you can do with a song or movie; For example “Only let this song play twice,” or “Only let the user burn two DVDs of this movie.”

In theory, DRM is a good idea. If you’ve got a top secret document, or are trying to organise a suprise birthday party, you can lock away emails and voice conversations. The key to the whole thing is “trust” which is in itself a completely seperate debate. Having a rights management system means straight up that the person imposing the rights doesn’t trust the person recieving the content, and that’s insulting, personally. Imagine if your friend gave you a new top-secret demo of their band’s newest song, but wouldn’t leave the room “just in case” you tried to make a copy of it. That’s the main driving force behind DRM.

I’ve only ever seen MSDRM used twice: First on the Telstra Bigpond music download service (Which I thought was a rip-off, and a joke,) and second on the website belonging to Muse. I would have forked over a couple of dollars to download an MP3 file that would sit right in my collection. Aside the fact that the billing system didn’t accept paypal, and I don’t have a credit card, there’s absolutely no way I wanted to download a song from a company that tells me I have to reboot my computer for every time I listened to it. The reasoning behind that last statement is that the download would only work in one piece of software, that only runs on the very expensive Microsoft Windows platform. That’s okay, I’ve already got a license for Windows even though I don’t use it very often, and I could probably install Windows Media Player if I really had to. The thing is, why would I want to go through all that hassle just to listen to one song in my collection? In addition, there’s absolutely no way I want some foreign company telling me that I can only burn this song onto two CDs, or play it on two computers, for the rest of time. It’s silly, plain and simple.

For every ‘net savvy artist, CEO, or content producer, there’s about five hundred technological neanderthals that want to regulate how many squares of toilet paper you’re allowed to use per flush. Companies might be trying to update their business models, but the major players (Sony, Microsoft, Apple to name a few,) are all pushing these restrictive technologies on consumers, expecting people to accept them. For the most part, they do.

Personally, I refuse to buy a CD with “Copy Control” technology on it, because aside the fact you can’t technically call it a “CD,” I don’t like the idea of it not being able to be read in my computer, or installing dangerous software behind my back. My Windows installation is unstable enough as it is, without adding more software that you can’t get rid of; I’m sure you’re sick of your Windows system crashing too.

I’m sure Sony, or Mushroom won’t notice one little fish in the sea not consuming their branded DRM-ed fish food, but at least I don’t have to put up with nonsense when I put my headphones on. I urge you to do the same too: If you see the copy controlled logo on a CD, just don’t buy it. Who cares if it’s good? If it’s going to mess with you, you’re better off without it. Aditionally, try to steer clear of the cellophane-coated online music stores with ribbons all over: iTunes, Bigpond, Yahoo… They’re not worth the hassles. Personally, I’d prefer to go up against the malware on Gnutella than the malware that is Windows Media Player. There are plenty of bands out there that are against DRM too, but ultimately they have no say in the matter: It’s all down to the record labels who won’t get the hint until we all do something about it collectively. Whatever your current position, I urge you to consider what I’m saying and make up your own mind. If you prefer not thinking, go watch a cartoon or something.