Day after day the Internet media is filled with news upon news that tells how yet another DRM-scheme has been circumvented. Every time a company comes out and explains to the world in large, bold statements that it has finally made the DRM-scheme that cannot be broken a 12-year kid with a PC and a book called “Reading Hex-values 101 for dummies” circumvents it the very next week. First came falling down the infamous CSS for DVD, cracked by Jon, now AACS is well underway down the drain, which has now been confirmed…
Meanwhile the Greedy Business ™ is looking for an alternative to DRM. Why? For several reasons… One is that the legality behind DRM is being questioned, iTunes for example is heading into serious problems in Norway these days. Another is that customers are frustrated and feel that the digital music market is annoying, as they cannot use their music like they have been used to with their CDs. This ensures that the digital music sales doesn’t flourish. The biggest reasonis of course Apple, who has taken the Greedy Business ™ by their nose and stolen control with the digital music market. The sales on iTunes is massive in scale and the Greedy Business ™ knows this. The only way they can regain some of that control is to offer what Apple will not (unless forced by legislation or angry customers, like in the EU) – the DRM-free alternative! The only power the Greedy Business ™ has left is to allow DRM-free MP3 files on their music sites and prohibit Apple in using DRM-free music on iTunes. This would ensure that the sales will start to go their way – unless they ruin everything by rising the prices to much. The music industry already has a serious problem understanding what a fair price is. Even though CD sales are failing fast they still want higher prices – for something that costs a buck to make!
Some music store have already begun to offer DRM-free, MP3 files in high quality, like CDon, eMusic and Yahoo! Music, who is adding that they will continue to experiment with DRM-free MP3 files. It isn’t easy finding a solution for a problem when everything is available for free on BitTorrent these days, but wasn’t DRM suppose to prevent that from happening? The real problem is that the Greedy Business ™ isn’t even using DRM to prevent piracy – they already know that this cannot be done… They are using it to degrade the user’s right and to control the market! It is not like artists are starving because of piracy and all this fuzz about DRM has made a big business in creating useless DRM-scheming technologies, that will be broken the very next day!
Something is very wrong in this market segment! Normally you would expect the prices to drop as the manufacturing process eases, but not in this business. Today it is cheaper to buy a DVD player than a DVD for it – How can that happen?! The answer is simple: In a market where free competing forces aren’t allowed! The big cartel of the Greedy Business ™ and their army of lawyers make sure of that by suing and blackmailing! Of course sometimes you end up getting countersued for something like that!
The battle for DRM is on – both high and low… In the EU iTunes is under great scrutiny because they will not allow the big companies to screw customers and blaim piracy the whole time.. And consumer-groups are joining in on the fight! In Holland things are turning the tide towards legalizing file-sharing – and idea that the Greedy Business ™ would have barked at and sent out thousands of lawyers at a couple of years ago! In italy it is already legal if it is not done for profit! Meanwhile people across the Internet is trying to fight DRM and make people aware of the consequences, which are often lost on average joe! RIAA and other members of the Greedy Business ™ isn’t exactly popular on the Internet… Like Sony, who forgot completely about their customers’ rights when they installed rootkits on normal music CDs – a move that is not forgotten on the Internet and will haunt Sony for the rest of its years .. and through its earnings!! The content-providers are aware of the problem and tries to deny that it is their problem. However with every ounce of common sense they have to know that they have to go for DRM-free content to turn the tide their way again… and perhaps cutting a bit of the large expenses, like they do in other businesses! They need to start thinking about a new distribution model … to everyone else it is clear that the old one doesn’t work anymore! The Internet has done away with the big signing-away-all-your-music-rights-forever and pay-for-the-many-bosses-of-the-recording-label-strategy..
The future is here – and is has been for quite a while now! If the Greedy Business ™ fails to see the big potential of the Internet and digital music sales they are doomed… smaller, more agile companies will go in and grow a niche that in the end will be the death of the Greedy Business ™… Sure, their army of lawyers will do all it can, pursuade congress, buy off politicians, sue more customers… but in the end they will fall – and no one will look back at them and say that they contributed to this future – only tried to keep the past going as long as their lawyers would allow them!
