The French Have Got It Right

I am watching France - Brazil right now. France just scored to go up 1-0. But this post isn't about football, its about iTunes and their use of DRM to lock in users to their proprietary platforms.

As this story in today's NY Times explains, France has passed a new law attempting to open up the market for DRM'd content. Apparently the law was watered down a lot before getting passed, but the big thing for me is that France gets a simple but important fact that too many people here in the US do not understand.

Simply put, "the law states that copy protection software cannot hinder access to a legally purchased digital work".

That's exactly what I hate about DRM. I don't mind paying for music and movies and TV shows. I am fine with that. I don't believe that artists should be forced to make their content free and ad supported (I do think that many of them will make more money that way). But frankly its for them to choose how to make money with their content.

What I object to is purchasing content and then being restricted as to where I can play it. We have at least 20 devices that I can play music on in my home, between computers, iPods, music servers, phones, PDAs, etc. And that number is going up, not down.

Just now, I got an email from iTunes alerting me that my friend Jimmy's new TV show, Blade, is available for free download on iTunes (the pilot is available for free, not the entire series). So I clicked on the link, and tried to download it to my new MacBook Pro. But I got this screen:

I know I have authorized five computers. I want to authorize about fifteen more, not de-authorize computers! Don't they understand?

This is a big issue. If someone purchases content legally, they should be able to consume it when and where they choose. So I am a really happy that the French have got it right. I hope the US will get it right someday too.

Comments

[Dave]

Sorry, this is a rather strange argument to be making.

Shouldn't the preferred method of DRM resolution be made in the markets, rather than by government diktat?

Or has Gore gotten to your brain?

If you don't like the way DRM is currently managed by companies, then you have two options: (1) invest in, or found, a music/movie/tv company which deals with DRM in a consumer-friendly way, or (2) educate the producers of such content about the benefits that will redound to them should the adopt consumer-friendly DRM practices.

Saying the French have it right is to ignore that country's sclerotic economy and clueless central bankers. As always, trust markets, not government.

[John C. Welch]

Well, if it bothers you that much, I recommend taking it up with RIAA and the MPAA et al. They're the ones that dream of a future where you give them money every time you press play. They force the DRM issue on the player companies.

But then, dealing with the cause is more boring than they symptoms.

[Will Awdry]

You know that plenty of kids in America don't have one device that they can authorize (let alone 15-20). If you sent thsoe 15 devices to some places in Africa they would be the only computers available for hundreds of miles.

[Derek Scruggs]

Dave says: Shouldn't the preferred method of DRM resolution be made in the markets, rather than by government diktat?

Well, I can't speak for the French law because I haven't looked at it in detail, but copyrights only exist in the context of government, else who would enforce them?

Further, DRM got a huge boost from the government via the DMCA law which made it illegal to crack and publicize a DRM workaround. Sounds anti-market to me.

Like I said, I don't know if the French got it right or not, but I don't believe for one second that copyrights and DRM are sacred cows the government shouldn't touch. It's the other way around - neither would meaningfully exist without government.

[Ted]

With all due respect to John above, while I have certainly no love loss for the RIAA and tend to be an "apple" guy, the simple fact is that locking the iPod with iTunes sells more iPods and forces people to purchase only iPods rather than competing products. Currently I do not see that Apple has much to worry about but DRM is the glue that holds this relationship together. Apple users are very quick to blame the RIAA, however it was posted on www.tuaw.com this past week that a Apple IP attorney suggested that absent the RIAA requirement, Apple would still impose DRM- why wouldn't they?

I wholeheartedly agree with Fred. I have so many devices in my house and it is growing exponentially. My kids are 6 and 2 currently and over the next decase, you can add more computers, more iPods, etc. and I cannot stand to authorize/deauthorize ad nauseum. It is my music. Hence, like Fred, I have not purchased anything through iTMS in well over a year.

A suggestion on Blade Fred- the new TiVo version now conveniently allows for transfer onto your iPod, thus you can get it outside of Apple's official channels.

[John C. Welch]

Ted, here's a hint about Apple. A single IP attourney is not Steve. If Steve isn't saying it, then don't take it seriously.

However, again, where's the outrage that Microsoft locks you into Windows if you want to use Plays For Sure devices? Hmmm...people seem to be giving them a bye on that one. Meanwhile, at least iTunes runs on Windows too.

[Scott]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the fact that there *is* copy protection the reason people can even *legally* download songs from iTunes in the first place? I mean, isn't the fact that Apple had created a system that both the content providers -- especially the content providers -- and consumers could live with the reason iTunes even exists?

Besides, it's not like this is "mission-critical" stuff we're talking about here. Consumers have lots of choices. No one has to buy an iPod or shop at iTunes. I have lots of digital music and lots of ways to play it -- and an iPod is not one of those ways.

Seems to me you can't play CDs on a record player. Will the French next require all companies who produce music CDs to produce vinyl records, too? Where does this nonsense end? What about DVDs, UMD...? Will Sony finally be forced to stop making devices with memory stick slots and instead put SD Card slots on them -- after all, everyone uses SD Cards and no one uses memory sticks -- well, unless you own a Sony product.

And, why stop with music. Has anyone ever purchased an ebook in [choose your format]? Now, THAT'S a problem. MP3's? a non-issue. Sorry if you bought an iPod and now feel constrained by its limitations. The thing is, you knew (or certainly should have known) about these limitations before you bought it -- none of it is a secret. And besides, you can have up to 5 devices authorized to play iTunes-purchased digital music at any time. What's the problem?