[CS-FSLUG] Real Player Rhapsode for Linux

[Robert W.]

On 01/22/2006 01:07:51 PM, Timothy Butler wrote:
> I think some DRM is that way, but not all... I'd rather have no DRM,
> but in a digital world where stuff can be copied perfectly and the
> majority of the populous lacks scruples, is that possible? I mean
> look at the other side too. I have a client who goes to my church.
> He's a law-abiding small business owner, and yet he wanted me to
> install a pirated copy of Photoshop for him. He didn't call it
> pirated -- of course -- but he gave me this CD "a friend gave him"
> and thought nothing of it.

That phrase "thought nothing of it" is why I am opposed to DRM in all  
forms. I have been reading The Art of Unix Programming by Eric Raymond:  
http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/index.html. He lists 17 rules for well  
designed programs. Rule number ten is called the Rule of Least  
Surprise. It means what you would expect: do the least surprising thing.

New users soon learn how to copy files. It's one of the first things  
they're taught. As you yourself stated, one can make perfect copies of  
any digital data. The least surprising thing is to actually make those  
copies as you need them.

DRM, EULAs, and other proprietary devices create artificial  
restrictions. Artificial restrictions that feel wrong because one would  
not normally expect such restrictions. I'm sure most people don't think  
about the rule of least surprise. But they will feel it. We usually  
describe such items as un-intuitive, clunky, annoying, or stupid.

When copyright first came about, it applied to books, pamphlets and  
papers. Physical items that required skill and time to copy. Violating  
a copyright required some form of investment (printing press, ink,  
hours of handwriting, etc...). An ordinary person wouldn't consider  
making a copy. Therefore, for these items, a restrictive license wasn't  
a surprise. It merely re-affirmed something they won't do anyway. So  
why care?

Digital items completely changed that formula. Copies are cheap. Now  
the least surprise IS making copies. And a restrictive license blocks a  
person from doing what they normally expect to do.

-- 
Robert W.
robertwo at insightbb.com

Enter through the narrow gate... But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it. -- Matthew 7:13a,14