On 21/01/2011 12:16 PM, scott wrote:

>> Almost nobody would bother to buy a BWM, copy its design,
>> build a hundred of them and give them to all their friends for free.
>
> Actually yes companies do exactly this (well not give away for free, but
> sell for cheaper as they don't need to pay so much design costs):
>
>
http://www.egmcartech.com/2007/08/27/bmw-threatens-action-against-chinese-copy-of-x5/

Yes, some *companies* do this. And there are laws to prevent it. What 
I'm saying is that some random dude on the street isn't going to do 
this. It's far too expensive, for a start.

>> For "content", the IP *is* the product. Which is a problem, since it's
>> trivially copyable.
>
> Indeed, it's clearly much easier and cheaper to copy an mp3 than a car,
> but the principle is the same.

Sure, the *principle* is the same. You shouldn't be making illegal 
copies of stuff. I'm pointing out that the *practise* is different. It's 
so hard to copy a car that very few do so. It's so trivially easy to 
copy digital data that potentially a vast number of people might well do 
this.

>> I have no problem with content creators expecting a return on their
>> investment. But I object to DRM, on a number of grounds. (Point #1 being
>> "it doesn't work".)
>
> You mean everyone knows how to bypass DRM?

No. I mean that it only takes one single person to work out how to 
defeat DRM (which will happen with probability 1), and your system is 
broken. You no longer have control over what people do with your data.

(More to the point, with current DRM systems, it's actually *easier* to 
use the cracked content than the genuine article. Incentive to pay, much?)

>> I have literally no idea what the solution is; the
>> only workable one I can think of is "don't bother producing new
>> content", but I *really* hope that's not the solution that everybody
>> settles on... (!)
>
> Given that many companies still make a lot of money from digital
> content, the problem doesn't appear to be as bad as you make out
> (certainly no need to stop making new content yet!).

Emphasis "yet"...

I don't think we'll ever see cinema die. (Could *you* afford a screen 
that big? And a sound system that powerful?) There's something to be 
said for seeing a film projected onto a screen the size of a small 
housing estate. "Home cinema" isn't.

Likewise, I'm sure they'll always be a market for live performance.

As for making money out of digital content... well, I *hope* it 
continues to be viable, but I'm not optimistic unless a "solution" can 
be arrived at. DRM is not the solution; DRM is the problem.

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