But what's the real effect of DRM? Last year, EMI began offering songs without it on iTunes. "The industry has finally been able to get some hard data about how removing DRM restrictions from legitimately purchased tracks affects piracy," says Bill Rosenplatt, DRM specialist and president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies. "The statistics show that there's no effect on piracy."
No effect. The assertion is remarkable. If DRM does not in fact discourage piracy, then it is merely a nuisance for the user.
and...
Are downloads really killing the music industry? Or is it something else?
I think the the answers partly lie in
1. They generate fantasy figures for themselves based on how much money they think they should be making - probably based on figures they had back in the 80s before the internet and computer games and DVDs and mobile phones, a time when everyone was gradually replacing their libraries of vinyl recording with CDs.
2. Their own greed - how is it the use of computers in any other industry has lead to savings in production? A recording studio used to be a ludicrously expensive thing to rent. But now everyone can get professional results on their laptops. When a track or a album is a download - with no physical CD, no cover, no transportation costs, no shelf space in a shop - why does it still cost the same as buying it on a CD?
and that's just music - I can't even go into TV shows and movies - but I am pissed at ISPs and Govts kowtowing to the Ent Biz and running around making laws and punishing home users on their behalf.
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