There are many reasons locking files down with copy protection or DRM is short-sighted and pointless, but one of the biggest is that it simply doesn’t work. Time and time again, various copy-protection schemes have been broken or circumvented, and all the DRM in the world hasn’t stopped file-sharing networks from being filled with supposedly protected media. The real effect of DRM, though, is to hamper interoperability in a misguided attempt to lock consumers in to particular products — when all it really does is lock consumers out and limit the market size of services and content. Now, Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM is the latest to be cracked, with a small program promising to eliminate the restrictions from tracks downloaded from the likes of Yahoo and Napster. Some might think this dooms the subscription-based offerings of those companies, since people won’t have to continue to pay them to access songs they downloaded. While undoubtedly some users will simply subscribe for a month, download everything they can, and then cancel, that shouldn’t be a concern. These users don’t have any interest in paying for music, and if they don’t get it from Napster or Yahoo, they’ll turn to a file-sharing network or another means where they’re getting things for free. Similarly, this development doesn’t mean those networks are going to be flooded with new and previously unavailable songs — it’s all already there.
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