rc3.org

If you’re trying to keep up with the latest on the Sony DRM/copy protection debacle, I’d recommend reading Ed Felten’sFreedom to Tinker, Bruce Schneier, or Boing Boing. What I wanted to talk about a little bit is the implications of this scandal.

I like the convenience of the iTunes Music Store and the prices are fine with me, but I rarely purchase tracks there because I don’t like the idea of Apple’s DRM causing me problems down the line when I want to move my music to a new computer or something. I prefer the freedom that buying a CD offers — you rip it and you have an unencumbered digital copy, and a physical copy to fall back on if your hard drive crashes. It seems to me though that the copy protection Sony licensed changes the rules.

If I fear that any CD I buy will silently install a bunch of crap on my computer, Apple’s DRM doesn’t sound quite so bad. At least I know what I’m getting.