Why digital music should be set free
WHY DIGITAL MUSIC SHOULD BE SET FREE
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: John Gapper]
[Commenatary] The average iPod user has only 22 DRM-encrypted songs on his or her device out of 1,000. The rest of the songs are either pirated illegally from friends or copied legally from the owner’s CD collection. There is no excuse for piracy. Every so often, someone tries to justify it by mumbling about how companies overcharge for CDs and he is doing what Robin Hood would have done. But since any pirate can buy a CD and distribute the music on it without difficulty, DRM does not curb those that it should. Some music industry executives hope one day to replace CDs with copy-protected discs but that is a distant prospect. Until then, DRM merely affects the law-abiding, who find it an annoying and inflexible encroachment on their legitimate property rights.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e70775e0-ba05-11db-89c8-0000779e2340.html
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Why digital music should be set free