Amazon Eschews DRM
Monday, September 24th, 2007 by Patrick Ross
Print This Post
Another vendor of online music is selling sound recordings
without the traditional DRM that blocks transmission of the work among devices;
these are of course sound recordings that have been released by their label
with these fewer restrictions. Several thoughts on this:
1. It's amusing to see the Digital Freedom campaign put out hyperbolic
statements praising these actions by online retailers because, after all,
it is the producers of those works agreeing to sell them this way.
2. It is further amusing to see Digital Freedom and others
call on other retailers to join in the DRM-free campaign. The groups comprising
Digital Freedom have lobbied for legislation that would all but obliterate DRM,
and yet here the free market is delivering business models without it. Perhaps
they should sit back and enjoy consumer demands being met and worry less about
a legal threat that seems less and less real with every new market offering.
3. Another amusing thing is seeing how Digital Freedom and
others overlook the fact that while "protective" DRM is not at work here,
copyright owners are exercising their rights in many cases and still using
other technologies they hope will reduce piracy. As Bill Rosenblatt says,
DRM-free does not mean free of digital rights technologies.
4. Yes, I'm still smiling. I also remain amused at how
incredibly preoccupied the Digital Freedom campaign is with music, in
particular sound recordings. Their fixation with getting recordings of music in
the ways that they want them and not in the ways that they don't want them
overlooks, just in the music industry, songwriters and music publishers. It
also ignores other creators, such as authors, journalists, photographers,
graphic artists, software and video game designers, print publishers, film
makers and sports leagues. The market for creative works is not
one-size-fits-all; before seizing on a sliver (sound recordings) of one
industry (musical works), it's important to consider how your actions might
impact the incentive to create in other areas and industries.
