DRM

Sony & DRM

Cory is keeping an excellent running tally of the happenings in the Sony-Rootkit DRM saga. My favorite post in the entire saga has to be this one post that talks about how DRM is discredited at Sony:

This all means that some of the label heads are finally starting to believe that DRM is just bad for business.

. . .

At least of the label heads has threatened never to allow another CD to go out with DRM again.

Excellent news. There is no doubt that there is great upheaval at Sony right now and that even after this upheaval dies down, Sony will be paying for its mistake for many years to come as it settles the various lawsuits that are now being filed.

What really gives me hope is that the case for DRM was always quite vague. There were no certainties and everyone kept talking about how the content could always be hacked out. No solid ROI case studies for DRM existed that showed that DRM presented improved value to the companies who used it.

Now there is a very real world example of who DRM can damage your business. Sony-BMG's image is trashed. Their artists are pissed. Moratoriums on purchasing Sony-BMG CDs have emerged. A lot of ill will has been generated and this ill will is going to haunt Sony for many years to come. I don't expect Sony to do a total turn-around tomorrow and be the poster child for anti-DRM music. Regardless of what happens at Sony, the world now has a case study of what harm DRM can do. I hope other music companies are watching and learning from Sony's mistakes.

Technorati Tags: drm, music, sony

Posted by Mayhem at November 24, 2005 12:06 AM