I Hate DRM

How many times have you had to buy a brand new phone because you switched carriers?  How many times has this fact prevented you from switching carriers?  How many times have you bought a new phone and then for whatever reason you have to switch...

This stuff just doesn't stop and companies seem to never learn from their mistakes.  The first article is about a company using DMCA takedown notices to try to stop something they don't like.  Unfortunately for them, you can't knowingly use...

AACS is one of the copy protection algorithms used to keep HD DVD and Blu-Ray DVD out of the hands of those dirty, nasty pirates everywhere.  One of the ways it accomplishes it is by using an encrypted key to make sure your content is "original". ...

If this had happened yeserday I would have thought it a joke.  This is huge news and a giant victory for those of us that have been fighting for our digital rights. I have stopped using iTunes for years now.  Looks like I will have to install...

I was reading this article over at ARS and it gave me a good laugh.  DMCA takedown notices are more and more common.  I read at least one story a day where a company tries to use the DMCA to silence something they don't like or don't agree with. ...

That is what Hollywood would have you believe. DRM helps customers get the content they want and it's good for them. Well apparently someone forgot to tell the customers of MusicLoad. They are reporting that 3 out of 4 customers calling their support...

I recently bought a new laptop at Best Buy that came preloaded with Vista Home Premium. Here are my initial observations while using it: •Best Buy has an entire "Vista Personalization Worksheet" that must be completed on the sale of any machine...

Fred Amoroso, CEO & President of Macrovision Corporation has created a letter in response to Steve Jobs' response against DRM. In this letter Amoroso makes four points on why DRM is good for and needed by consumers. Point 1: DRM is broader than just...

For years now, Hollywood has been saying that DRM is about piracy and that we need it to "protect" their content. But no more. A recent Business Week article has a very subtle quote from an unnamed movie exec where he says "His (Apple's) user rules...

I found myself silently laughing as I read the statistics on the number of HD DVD and Blu Ray players sold this year. At first glance, they appear to be fairly strong at almost 695,000 units sold. But you need to look deeper at these numbers to really...

I've had this dilemma for months now. I am right at the point where I was planning on upgrading my hardware and TV to create the "Ultimate Movie Room". These plans started a year ago before the specs were fleshed out for HD DVD and BluRay. Once I...

Well...not yet at least. But soon. The entertainment industry has long been at work to remove the ability of a 3rd party, i.e. a company they don't control, to time and space shift content. It's no secret that Hollywood hates Tivo and other DVRs that...

I have been wondering why this is taking so long. The RIAA has been sue happy for years now with no end in sight. I really want to see someone crush these idiots and put them in their place. Maybe Lime Wire is the one to do it. You can read more about...

Sorry for the lack of updates lately but my personal and professional life have been very hectic. Anyway, I couldn't pass up this post. I have heard about Zune for a few weeks now and thought to myself, "who cares, another portable music player." But...

"Like a creeping fog, DRM smothers more and more media in its clammy embrace, but the sun still shines down on isolated patches of the landscape." This is the opening paragraph to a great article over at Ars. This article steps you through some of the...

I am saying NO to Windows Genuine Advantage or WGA. For those of you who don't know what WGA is, you should, especially if you are running versions of Windows XP. You can read an earlier post about it here. Basically it is just another form of DRM....

Just read this amazing article from The WSJ. I didn't know this but apparently there are a number of colleges across the nation that offer students access to music download services for free!! You heard me, FREE! Services like the new Napster which...

I am really tired of the entertainment industry here in the US. I realized it this weekend but I need to step back a few years to give you a better picture of where I stood then and where I stand now. When DVD players first came out I bought one right...

The EFF has put together a nice section in their deep links for questions to ask the entertainment industry while they, as the EFF puts it "trot out their spokespeople at conferences and public events all over the country, repeating their misleading talking...

The latimes.com website has published an interesting article about piracy issues in and around Congress which include the broadcast flag, audio flag, and the analog hole. The name is very fitting "We aren't all pirates". The article touches on a number...

Once again the RIAA and the MPAA are trying to sneak the audio and video broadcast flags down our throats but this time it has happened at the last minute. The EFF has some info on the Senators that sit on this committee and suggests calling them NOW....

You may not agree with everything the EFF does but on this one, you have to admit it's pretty damn clever. The EFF has the same problem that I have; people who know about this stuff read and understand what we are saying. The problem is that there are...

I run a valid copy of Windows and I resent the fact that Microsoft feels the need to install software on my machine to "check up" on me. When I first saw the Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool in Windows Update, it was easy enough to disable it...

There are many ways to do this and I have outlined some of them in my blog such as not supporting labels that are members of the RIAA. The EFF has a petition on their site that I signed a while ago and didn't think to link it in here. Anyway, they need...

I have thought about this a number of times in the past but never did the research to look into who is responsible for the worst copyright law in US history. Know that Clinton signed the bill into law. Here is the list of people who voted to pass the...