Re: Why DRM exists [was Re: Flame Linus to a crisp!]

Scott Robert Ladd
2003-04-29T16:29:04Z

Dax Kelson wrote:
> What exactly are you trying to say about an Open Source relation to
> software theft (warezing), Audio/Video theft, high asian piracy rates
> and DRM? These are all things you brought up, but I couldn't
> recognize any coherent statement here.

The coherency you seek lies in seeing a common thread of wanting
something for nothing. Free software developers often clone products
developed by commercial companies; this is taking a free ride (something
for nothing) on the R&D budget of the corporation. The effort that goes
into designing quality software isn't just coding -- it's also research,
design, focus groups, testing, and QA. I think it is quite reasonable
for commercial entities to protect their investment in time, effort, and
personnel.

"Free-as-in-liberty" software is just one of several factors that
influence companies to protect themselves. Merchants put alarms and bars
on their stores, in response to crime; software and IP companies buy
legislation to protect their property as well. That property is the
basis of their income -- and not all IP companies are unsympathetic,
multinational corporations like Microsoft. Many, many small companies,
authors, and artists depend on their IP for an income.

Understanding your opponent is the first step to converting an enemy to
a friend. As it stands now, the confrontational attitude of many free
software advocates is counterproductive. The more adversarial "free"
software advocates act, the more companies will use money and law to
protect themselves.

This isn't about right-and-wrong, it's about power. That, perhaps, is
the most painful lesson I learned in my years as an activist. It doesn't
matter if Microsoft *should* have been convicted in the U.S. anti-trust
suite -- that *fact* is, they got away with it. It doesn't matter if
every international court said that my friends were being mistreated by
the U.S. government -- because the U.S. government could safely ignore
those courts.

If "right" wants to win out over "wrong", it must find power. If you
don't have money or political clout, you need to find power elsewhere.
But simply claiming "I'm right" -- even if you are -- isn't going to
stop the corporate steamroller from flattening your band wagon.

--
Scott Robert Ladd
Coyote Gulch Productions (http://www.coyotegulch.com)
Professional programming for science and engineering;
Interesting and unusual bits of very free code.