When playing a CD becomes a "privilege," not a rig

[The Grim Squeaker]

I've spent part of my tenure here at Ars trying to warn people about the encroaching affront to our culture being brought about at the behest of the entertainment industry. It has consistently been my position that technologies like "Digital Rights Management" are less about preventing piracy, and more about finding new ways to nickel-and-dime customers. Through DRM and "contracts" for content, fair use rights are being eroded.

Of course, the industry is trying to accomplish its objective by publicly lamenting piracy. If the public and "their" politicians believe that the entertainment industry is on the verge of collapse, they'll be much more likely to accept restrictions on use of content that they've paid for. For this reason, most industry talking heads keep their comments in check when talking about DRM schemes, but from time to time we've seen people truly speak their mind. Such is the case with Tommi Kyyrä, of IFPI Finland. Mr. Kyyrä told Tietokone (Finnish) that the ability to play CDs on computers is a "privilege," and that people who have problems with CDs laden with DRM should just buy new CD players.

"Now, we need to understand that listening to music on your computer is an extra privilege. Normally people listen to music on their car or through their home stereos," said Kyyrä. "If you are a Linux or Mac user, you should consider purchasing a regular CD player." (Translation via tigert.com)

The comments come in the context of a debate over copy-protected CDs. As we have previously reported, CDs with copy protection do not play on all CD players, although this is certainly not just limited to computer CD players. Some older players also won't play the discs, either.

Curiously, Mr. Kyyrä's inflammatory remarks have since been removed from the story (comparative screenshots).

More recently we've learned that the entertainment industry is embracing a content protection scheme that will effectively give them control over whether or not you can play high-definition optical discs on your computer. I recently covered Microsoft's position in all of this mess; if Microsoft wouldn't support HDCP, high-definition optical discs would be entirely off-limits on Windows computers. Supporting HDCP isn't a panacea, however. Computers without secure video pathways will either degrade the quality of video displayed, or refuse to play them at all. The situation is rather complex, and I suggest checking out my coverage.

Remind me again Why Pirating is wrong when concerning these bastards ? (Not that anyone here on this fine board would do that of course )
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[Hotfoot]

Because, well, it's wrong. They're wrong too, but that hardly makes pirating right. If I were to do nothing but pirate, they would have a point, because I AM denying artists the money they deserve.

Copyright laws have gotten out of control, and entertainment companies have gotten out of hand, but that doesn't suddenly make pirating "right". It's just as wrong now to pirate and bootleg as it was fifty years ago, it's just easier, and with that, now it's getting easier to excuse. Even if we use a hundred year old example of copyright law, before all the extensions and addition, most pirates would probably still be pirates, as I'd be willing to bet most of the shit they take wouldn't be under public domain even by THOSE rules.

Are these assholes overreacting? Yes. Does it need to be stopped? Yes. Is MORE piracy the answer? Fuck no. That just justifies their worst fears. The answer is to provide a business model that can not just survive given current conditions, but in fact thrive in them.

Of course, the problem is they want to change the current conditions, which should not be allowed. Big companies should not count more than populations in government.