“More choice for you” is the argument a Sony executive repeatedly made when questioned about digital rights management during an open-mic panel at Siggraph, a computer graphics industry conference held here this week.
The panel let conference attendees question Sony directly about its digital rights management (DRM) policies, and attendees and panelists weren’t shy about expressing their views.
Given the ease with which music, video and other information is distributed digitally, DRM in some form or fashion is necessary to ensure such material is bought and sold fairly and copyrights are protected, said Mitch Singer, executive vice president of the digital policy group at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“I think fair play protected Steve Jobs’ ability to protect his hardware so that he could sell it for a lot more money. To allow consumers to have choice to listen, buy or (participate in) subscription models–there is no way around it unless you have a new system of DRM,” Singer said.
In addition to Singer, the “Digital Rights, Digital Restrictions” panel discussion featured Karen Sandler, an attorney from the Software Freedom Law Center; Emru Townsend, founding editor of Frames Per Second magazine and a contributor to PC World’s Digital World blog; and Robert Ryang, a film student who has created satirical adaptations of copyrighted films for the Independant Film Channel. But it was Singer who got the most questions.
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