Class 8 Reading Ah-Ha, DRM

"Protecting the rights of the content owners to ensure that they get a fair return on their assets is paramount; otherwise they will not make content available. However this protection should not be at the expense of the fair-use rights of the consumer (p.312)." This is a simple summation of the complex and ever-evolving battle between software owners and users. I am probably not in the majority of techno-savvy individuals when I say that I tend to side with the argument put forth by the content owners; user should have to pay for the software that they use.

It seems that in the auro and creation of the Internet, we have birthed a society of innovators who are constantly trying to break the codes, to copy and re-use, to download, to distibute for free. Of course, I have done this in the past and I still do but I also would like to be on the business side of the Internet making money and in order to this ther has to be reliable ways established to distribute content without constnatly getting ripped off. I think there should and can be a middle ground where users and content owners can both get what they want. But DRM is and will continue to be increasingly inhibiting to the average user as long as people can find ways around it.

I guess I am at the standpoint of many people who have a scope on the industry right now,;I am not quite sure how DRM issues will work themselves out but I do not that their is a dark cloud looming over this issue and something has got to give.