I’ve always been suspicious of digital rights management technology—copy protection on DVDs and CDs, for instance—as something which unnecessarily hampers progress whilst offering no economic benefit. Whenever I want to articulate this position to someone, I just point them toward a talk given by Cory Doctorow on the subject of DRM to Microsoft researchers in 2004. A highlight from the speech:

When MP3 rolled around […] instead of making a high-capacity MP3 walkman, Sony shipped its Music Clips, low-capacity devices that played brain-damaged DRM formats like Real and OpenMG.

Today, Sony is dead in the water when it comes to walkmen. That’s because Sony shipped a product that there was no market demand for. No Sony customer woke up one morning and said, “Damn, I wish Sony would devote some expensive engineering effort in order that I may do less with my music.” Presented with an alternative, Sony’s customers enthusiastically jumped ship.

He characterises DRM as a matter of market choice, and there’s never been a more important time for consumers to vote with their dollars. If you enjoy your multimedia tech treating you like a potential criminal, then by all means shell out for new computers with stupid garbage like the Trusted Computing Platform.

Doctorow will be speaking in Brisbane on March 31st as part of The Ideas Festival. Tix are $25.00.