Re: <nettime> WSJ: Can Copyright Be Saved?

[Gregor Claude <gregor@zoom.co.uk>]

Thanks for the article, Felix.

I'm curious about this "DRM as middle ground" argument, which I've never
heard before. Our WSJ correspondent writes,

> Indeed, DRM has provided a middle ground for music companies that have
> hesitated to institute in the U.S. the draconian controls now standard in
> Europe and Asia, where CDs generally are sold with technology that prevents
> them from being copied in any way. Not wanting to go that far, these
> companies until now have settled for continuing to produce CDs that have no
> controls at all.

Thanks goodness that American music companies are holding high the flag of
freedom. But does anyone know what he's talking about with these "draconian
controls now standard in Europe and Asia"? I know that there have been
one-off cases of protected CDs like that mentioned in the article, and the
one from a couple of months ago that you crack with a felt-tip pen. But none
of the CD's I've ever bought in London or anywhere else have been
DRM-protected. To be middle ground you need extremes, but is the supposed
European and Asian extreme for real? Have I just been leading a
sheltered/unprotected music life?

Gregor

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