[Wylug-discuss] Which? magazine

[Anne Wilson]

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On 23/02/12 11:22, Paul Brook wrote:
>>> I also think it's a mistake to focus too much on passing
>>> things on.  How many of us actually want to listen to our
>>> grandparent's music collection ;-)  IMHO a more pressing
>>> concern is that when the phone/tablet/application/service you
>>> used to purchase the licence dies (or is eaten), then there's a
>>> good chance your DRM key wil go with it.
>> 
>> Exactly.  I want to be able to convert formats and whatever else 
>> is needed (such as DRM keys) to move devices/media to retain my 
>> ownership. And I want to do that with a minimum of fuss and no 
>> expense.
> 
> Which is exactly what DRM is designed to prevent.  Specifically
> that you (the user) should never have access to the key.  Access to
> that content is controlled by someone else.
> 
> As soon as you have access to the key then it's trivial to strip
> the DRM, and the whole system becomes void.  Of course you also
> need the key to play the file, but DRM vendors use as many layers
> of obfuscation and legal threats as they can find to try and
> prevent you noticing that.
> 
I used to manage my eBooks on my netbook.  A few weeks ago I bought
another batch of books, using the supplied DRM software, and to my
horror it deleted all the existing books on my reader.  I tried the
helplines at Sony, Adobe and Waterstones - none could figure out how
it had happened, but there was no way I could get them back on,
despite the fact that the software acknowledged that both the reader
and the computer were correctly registered.

In the end, in desperation, the support person asked if I had another
computer that I could install the software on.  That did work, and I
downloaded new copies of all the books I had bought - but not everyone
has a spare computer.  And it cost me at least half a day.

DRM truly does mean Digital Rights Restrictions.

Anne
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