Re: Digital Rights Management

[Brian May <bam@debian.org>]

>>>>> "Russell" == Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> writes:

    Russell> Another problem is that there are some works which are
    Russell> not available through regular channels.  If you are
    Russell> unable to purchase a book or movie then I believe that it
    Russell> is acceptable to get a copy of it.  I have recently
    Russell> received a text file which contains such a book.  I plan
    Russell> to purchase the book as soon as the book company decides
    Russell> to publish it again.  Copyright is not designed to
    Russell> restrict publication of work, it is designed to achieve a
    Russell> fair payment for the work.  If I have the opportunity to
    Russell> meet the author who's book I copied then I plan to give
    Russell> him a gift of greater value than the amount of money he
    Russell> would get from my copy if the book company would give him
    Russell> if they deigned to re-print it.

I knew somebody (years ago) who wanted to get an old, unsupported
Pascal compiler for the Macintosh. He rang up the manufacturer
(Borland I think, not sure now), but was told there was no way he
could legally get a copy anymore. IIRC, he has told the only way to
get a copy was to pirate it.

I consider this downright stupid. If the manufacturer no longer wants
to support the product, they have nothing to loose by allowing the
binaries to be freely distributed (if not the source code). However,
the manufacturer doesn't see any financial motivation to do this, so
doesn't bother.

Other similar cases include not being able to find the CD you want to
purchase at any shop. I have heard (secondhand) that it is often
easier to find the illegal copy of specific music then the legal copy
(perhaps these websites should publish details making it easier to
find the legal copy if you want).

Or downloading the illegal copy first before buying the legal copy (so
you can tell beforehand if you like the musician or not).
-- 
Brian May <bam@debian.org>