Aaarghhh, DRM!

Here's a thought... Digital Rights Management, SUCKS!

My latest frustration with this tool used to protect intellectual property is with Microsoft Reader for Pocket PC.  As we all know, everything Windows becomes fudged up after sometime.  I totally wipe my WinXP Pro system twice a year along with my Pocket PC, it's just a fact of life if your platform is Windows.

Imagine my surprise after getting my Axim X30 up and running, that I found out I was out of activations for MS Reader!  I had to send an email to Big Brother for consideration of bestowing me with an activation so that I could use the books I purchased!  How gracious of them.

Yes I did get the activation, but why should I have to ask for permission to use my software?  It's an old argument, but like most things, it was irrelevant until it happened to me.  You know, that stuff only happens to other people.

Guys I tell you what, I am firmly in the camp of those who will crack any DRM'd software I now own.  I'm talking everything, Out of the Park Baseball 3, Front Office Football 2K, everything.  I have had to ask for permission to use those also after inadvertently rebuilding my system without unlicensing them.  Yes my fault, but I will no longer be held hostage to software I pay for.

What happens if Napster goes out of business and you're $180 dollars into them for music?  What happens if Digital River goes under and I need to license my games?  How about those users of Xcopy DVD?  How do they get serial numbers now?

DRM & Copy protection hurts the consumer and ultimately leads to more piracy.  Guess what happened when I was researching methods to remove the DRM from my .lit books?  I found thousands of copyrighted books ripe for downloading!  The whole Wheel of Time series there for the taking in multiple formats!