Digital Rights and Your Devices
I was reading today at PocketPC Thoughts an article about how Microsoft's MS Reader cannot read purchased (or digital rights management locked - DRMed) with the new Windows Mobile 5 operating system. Besides the fact that this doesnt bode well for any who want to update to a newer device to take advantage of the [much] better battery life and other featurs, it also makes for a hurdle that we might see happening over the course of many devices for a good while.
Let's go back a little bit and give you a summary of DRM and how it effects you; and then get you up to speed on what can be done.
For many devices, there are standard formats that they can read or not read. For example, some music devices can read MP3s, WMAs (Windows Media Audio), or AAC (Apple Audio Codec) type files. With DRM, there is a "lock" that is placed within the program, or the file itself, that prevents it from being played or used in devices that do not have the other piece of the lock. Kinda like a key that is broken in half and can only work when you have the other half. What DRM does, in effect, to to pretect content from being copied freely from one device to another without being authenticated. And at the same time, if the device, or reader, is no longer made, then the files that you have can no longer be of use. Kinda like a magazine that yo buy at the store, but when the company goes out fo business, you can no longer read the magazines that you have.
Now, despite my use of analogies, one can see how in this case with MS Reader books, MP3s, and other files, that DRMed items can really be a drain to the consumer. Of course, there are open formats - i.e. formats that are freely maintained and supported and locked to specific devices. But, these are of little value to content producers and device makers. Where is the constant revenure stream if you dont have to repurchase your content?
So what can you do about it? Not too much at this point. DRM is still a young technology, and for the most part, people do not even notice that its happening until something they need cannot be moved to another device (e.g, ringtones from your old phone to your new phone is not something that can normally be done without repurchasing them). You can always do the research and then download or create open format files that would be readable. But even with some open formats, they are not always used, or maintained enough to be viable.
My recommendation is to make sure that you are doing your homework with purchasing content for new and old devices. And if at all possible, have multiple versions of things such as ebooks, music, etc. So that you can move to another format easily. It would be nice if there was a standard format for all things (believe it or not, we are getting there - with word documents at least). But, since there isn't we have to make sure to understand DRM, and its political and economical implications on all that we have (digital or print).
Let's go back a little bit and give you a summary of DRM and how it effects you; and then get you up to speed on what can be done.
For many devices, there are standard formats that they can read or not read. For example, some music devices can read MP3s, WMAs (Windows Media Audio), or AAC (Apple Audio Codec) type files. With DRM, there is a "lock" that is placed within the program, or the file itself, that prevents it from being played or used in devices that do not have the other piece of the lock. Kinda like a key that is broken in half and can only work when you have the other half. What DRM does, in effect, to to pretect content from being copied freely from one device to another without being authenticated. And at the same time, if the device, or reader, is no longer made, then the files that you have can no longer be of use. Kinda like a magazine that yo buy at the store, but when the company goes out fo business, you can no longer read the magazines that you have.
Now, despite my use of analogies, one can see how in this case with MS Reader books, MP3s, and other files, that DRMed items can really be a drain to the consumer. Of course, there are open formats - i.e. formats that are freely maintained and supported and locked to specific devices. But, these are of little value to content producers and device makers. Where is the constant revenure stream if you dont have to repurchase your content?
So what can you do about it? Not too much at this point. DRM is still a young technology, and for the most part, people do not even notice that its happening until something they need cannot be moved to another device (e.g, ringtones from your old phone to your new phone is not something that can normally be done without repurchasing them). You can always do the research and then download or create open format files that would be readable. But even with some open formats, they are not always used, or maintained enough to be viable.
My recommendation is to make sure that you are doing your homework with purchasing content for new and old devices. And if at all possible, have multiple versions of things such as ebooks, music, etc. So that you can move to another format easily. It would be nice if there was a standard format for all things (believe it or not, we are getting there - with word documents at least). But, since there isn't we have to make sure to understand DRM, and its political and economical implications on all that we have (digital or print).
posted by Antoine @ 10/11/2005 11:21:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home