Jerry Brito

Dreaming of DRM

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Yesterday in Prof. Berresford’s communications law class we talked about copyright, and it was a much more interesting discussion than we’ve ever had in copyright class. What amazed me the most, however, was how many of my peers understand that the music and movie industries, if they are to survive, will have to change their business models to account for digital distribution, but nevertheless assume that DRM can be a part of a successful long-term model.

They correctly point out that industry obviously got it wrong when it opposed home audio-taping and later VCRs and time-shifting, and that it corrected its mistake by subsequently embracing the new technology. The movie industry now makes by far more money from DVD sales than the box office. While the entertainment industry may be making the same error now by trying to thwart technology rather than using it to its advantage, I think it is a mistake to believe that the solution is simply to sell content online in some protected format. As I have argued before, there is no DRM that won’t eventually succumb to resourceful hackers, and if all else fails there is always the analog loophole.

For every study that says that online sharing does not hurt (or even helps) the industry, there is one that says the opposite. I tend to give more weight to the latter kind for three reasons. First, money talks, and the RIAA is spending lots of money in combatting sharing. Even if they are fighting a misguided fight, I don’t think they would be doing it if sharing was actually helping them. Second, as people who have never known a world without the Internet (and who see very little stigma attached to file sharing) begin to make a bigger part of the population, file sharing will increase. Third, file sharing technology will continue to become more effective and easier to use–the incentives exist all around for this to happen.

So if you cannot depend on a business model that relies on enforcing your copyright, and sharing will increasingly be a substitute for purchasing, media companies will have to compete on something else than just the actual content. I think it is possible for them to do this effectively, but first they–and everyone else–needs to give up the notion that you can effectively enforce your copyright online. For better or worse, technology has overruled the law.

Nov 17, 2004 | Comments