86: Digital Rights Management
| Digital Rights Management |
 Title text: If you're interested in the subject, Lawrence Lessig's 'Free Culture' is pretty good |
Explanation
Digital rights management(DRM), is a method of controlling digital files, such as by preventing media from playing on any device besides the purchasing device. Its use is lobbied for by organizations such as the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA), as it would make it more difficult to pirate media, which they claim cuts into their profits. However, DRM is usually disliked by consumers, as it makes it difficult to use their purchased media. For example, if they buy a new computer, there's no guarantee their DRM-covered media will be usable on the new computer. Thus, Hat Guy is threatening to crush the pro-DRM organizations (namely Sony, Microsoft, the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA), and Apple) with a moving wall of ice if they don't stop trying to dictate when, where, and how media can be played (via DRM).
The title text refers readers to Lawrence Lessig's book 'Free Culture'.
Transcript
- [Hat Guy is standing on an advancing glacier]
- Hat Guy: Dear Sony, Microsoft, the MPAA, the RIAA, and Apple: Let's make a deal. You stop trying to tell me where, when, and how I play my movies and music, and I won't crush your homes under my inexorably advancing wall of ice.
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