Like many things, it (DRM/HDCP) was/is perceived to be a solution to piracy, but in fact, it isn't. DES was supposed to prevent piracy on DVD's and it didn't. AACS was supposed to be unbreakable and got broken faster than DES did. I cannot really think of any anti-piracy effort which has prevented piracy. Can you?
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Apple reported there is a significant slow down on DRM enabled music sales in iTunes versus non DRM enabled music. And due to this, they will be dropping DRM enabled music from thier lists, in the near future. They are trying to get the providers of the DRM enabled tunes to drop the DRM.
I caught that on the news this morning.
Of course, it probably does not help when .
Steve Jobs is being very vocal about leading an anti-DRM movement. I wish him well with that effort and have offered to help as well.
And if you are not one to read what Mr. Jobs has to say, "
Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. ", is just a bit from that.
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Here is what Starforce and things of that nature will do for a company. As a consumer, I will no longer buy any Sony manufactured media which I may put into my computer ROM drive. I know others who feel the same way.
I will no longer buy any game which has Starforce on it. I know others who feel the same way.
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All these attempts to prevent piracy are failing miserably. I have always paid for my media. Always. But, I would consider grabbing a pirated copy of HD content, if I ever bought any which had ICT enabled on it. Or I would hack my own copy to remove ICT.
But instead, I am boycotting HD content in its entirety. I will not buy any hardware which has HDCP hardware installed either. In the overall scheme of things, it will not matter, but I really do not care as it does matter to me