[debate] Let's discuss DRM

[Alan Light]

Some wonderful points have been made, but I'm afraid Imri is preaching to the choir here.

The points that Imri and Chris make are all quite good, and I especially enjoyed Chris's anecdote about high cigarette taxes in Canada.

Rob's statement - "The fundamental problem with DRM is that it creates the only case I know of where stolen media  is more valuable than legally acquired media." - is classic.

I will also point out that although some customers will indeed "steal" creative works, these are generally people who couldn't or wouldn't buy the product anyway.  On the other hand, many studies have demonstrated that giving away a product for free tends to result in higher sales, because it is in effect free advertising..  This effect may be diminished once everyone catches on and virtually everything is free, but so far it has worked quite well.  This is because most customers prefer *not* to be thieves - at least, not if they value the product.

Meanwhile, treating one's customers like criminals is not a good business model.  It tends to drive away those customers who *would* like to buy the product, and encourages them to bypass the legal channels entirely - at which point the paying customers have become the criminals that the copyright holders thought they were - but only because they have been given no reasonable choice.  And once they have started, a good deal of them will stop paying for the product altogether, out of spite (and rightly so).

Just one more proof that people tend to meet the expectations one sets for them.



Alan


      
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