we don't need no thought control
boingboing's cory doctorow is a frequent advocate of killing DRM - 'digital rights management' for the ungeek - essentially the blanket term for technology that locks digital media, i.e. what keeps a song purchased from itunes from being played on more than one brand of MP3 player, or a DVD from working in a DVD player in another country. this battle has been raging for a few years, ever since cavemen first started using the internet to share media files with each other back in the stone ages (late 90's).
contrary to popular belief, people like cory (and me) don't hate on DRM because we're pirates and want to steal music - not trying to sound all noble or anything, but i haven't downloaded a song from a filesharing network in over a year (mainly because i don't want spyware on my machine). no, we hate on DRM because it's going to hinder, not help, the enjoyment of art in the forms of music, movies and books.
cory has given several speeches/talks on the evils of DRM - and he's summarized the most significant points into a post on his site. it's fascinating reading.
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