Re: DRM - Wont be getting my cash.
What happens when your house burns down and some of your books are out-of-print? If your CDs get scratched or mangled beyond playable? Or if the media is just fragile and eventually wears out (a la vinyl and magnetic tape)?
The tangible world isn't infinite, so I don't understand why we think the digital world should be. Perhaps it's that idealized world where knowledge is never lost and always available, regardless of the age, format, content, etc. But that's not how the world works. The Great Library was burned down and lost to time, thousands of books and manuscripts that we know to have existed, the knowledge of which is only known because they were referenced in surviving works. There are numerous musical recordings we don't have, either because they existed only in an oral tradition or because they predated recording. And even recorded works have been lost due to degradation of the media.
I'm still not a fan of DRM, but its more for where it can go wrong as opposed to some philosophical opposition. DRM can fail or malfunction, locking out a customer who has purchased access to content. But at least there, in theory, there is recourse and you can get access restored. A CD was its own DRM (and just as illegal to circumvent through copying, whether people cared or not), and if it failed, your only recourse was to buy a new copy. Same with a book. You can't legally copy a book (though many have tried), and if it was destroyed, lost, damaged, eaten by a dog, covered in blood, etc., you couldn't bring the remains back to a bookstore and ask for a new copy for free. You could get a new copy, but for the price of the original, or you could look around for a used copy.
So some of your points are valid: It can fail, it can be a hassle, it can be poorly implemented, and if the unlock is remote, then a server failure, local internet failure, or the folding of the shop can render content unplayable. But those are technical failures with technical solutions; they can be overcome. The other sins you lay at the feet of DRM are not a DRM problem; they are a commerce problem. And will continue to be, even if creators sell direct to customers.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
