Even Worse DRM

Filed in archive Consumer Rights on October 24, 2006

ProtectDisc brings the world Protect DVD-Video so that DVDs you legally own cannot be played on a Windows PC using Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center Edition, or any software player based on DirectShow.

This just in ... software developer SlySoft has released an update to their AnyDVD software that inactivates the Protect DVD-Video lockout.

Technology writer Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes:

I don't have a problem with anyone protecting their intellectual property and making sure that they are paid fairly for their work, but I am dismayed when, time after time, they seem to blur the line between fair use and piracy. The more that legitimate users are being made to feel like they have been cheated out of being able to use what they've paid for, the more people are being pushed into looking for tools that allow them to circumvent copy protection ... simply to use what they paid for. That sets a worrying trend that will ultimately make things worse for the movie and recording industry. Imagine if keys were outlawed and people had to turn to lockpicks to get into their own homes? Would that make us all more secure? I doubt it! The same thing is happening here. The entertainment industry is forcing ordinary users to look for tools to bust copy protection in order to use a product they've paid for, ordinary users feels abused and ripped off by a big, faceless corporation, and the next time they want a song or movie, they're less likely to pay for it and more likely to acquire it through other channels.

And to be honest, who can blame them?