fairuseless.org

Hi-end audio pro weighs in on DRM conundrum - ZDNet.com

Current DRM implementations are an afront to consumers of all ages. It undermines CD playback compatibility, fair use rights, and goodwill with the music buying public at just about every turn. Circumventing it makes you a de facto criminal, thanks to the DMCIA.

So how can this wrong best be righted? The linked article recommends abstaining from DRM distributed music and buying second-hand, back-catalog music. This is consumer pressure? Not only will this not be enough, it may only exacerbate the situation, as every lost CD sale is chalked up to increased piracy, according to the RIAA, only leading the industry to develop more intrusive mechanisms for controlling content.

Who is defending consumer rights? Too often it's being left to consumers, who collectively don't understand enough of the issue and aren't organized enough to effectively fend for themselves. And thus, "buyer beware" is the rule.

As demonstrated by the tobacco settlement, consumers need much more advocacy than themselves to win. Granted, DRM-laden music doesn't cause cancer, but it is an infringement on our civil liberties, and any such infringement of our civil liberties is a cancer on our society in my book.

A little off topic for this site, but thought I'd share an interesting expose from Jason Kottke on Google's attempt to patent something it *may* have already patented.

Just as Fair Use is an inadequate mechanism for protecting innovator and consumer rights, so too is the US patent system.

I filed a provisional patent once, which was a neat experience, but elected to not pursue the full application as my research gave me a first-hand look at some of the patent abuses out there. I decided I didn't want to be a party to it. Bottom-line is that I didn't feel that my innovation was truly that innovative, and laying claim to it (assuming I could) felt wrong.

MetaBrainz goes non-profit.

This will help protect the integrity and interoperability of music metadata everywhere, for everyone. I wish them well and look forward to the day when Ripshark can utilize the MetaBrainz metadata store as its primary MP3 tag source rather than paying a license for its current source.