You buy the music - someone else tells you how you can enjoy the music - when you can play the music - where you can use the music -
Work around that and you're a criminal.
Doesn't Big Brother have anything better to worry about?
There are so many ways to make this work.
INTEL IS ABOUT TO CUT Linux out of the legitimate content market, and hand the keys to the future of digital media to Microsoft at your expense. Don't like it? Tough, you are screwed. The vehicle to do this is called East Fork, the upcoming and regrettable Intel digital media 'platform'. The funny part is that the scheme is already a failure, but it will hurt you as it thrashes before it dies. Be afraid, be very afraid...
Any DRM on a machine is simply a sign of failure. It signifies that the providers cannot, or will not provide you with a good product at a fair price... Bought legislators are hard at work making sure you will go to jail if you try to exercise your rights on the issue.
Bruce Schneier has been writing about the danger of this for a long time -
The ubiquity of the Microsoft operating system is a security risk. There's an inherent security risk in any monoculture, and we're seeing the effects of it...
Bugs, worms, viruses - wildlife of all sort thrive in monocultures wherever they are - wheat fields - factory chicken farms - feedlots of all sorts.
Ever drive by a feed lot or a factory chicken operation? You didn't have to see it to know it. The sad thing is that none of the animals trapped in these places would live like that if given any choice, and none of them would require the heavy innoculations of antibiotics and hormones if left alone.
How much are you willing to pay to innoculate your computer against viruses and worms and spyware? How many times are you willing to pay for the same piece of music or any other digital content that you buy?
Mark Cuban asks some good questions about file sharing and it's impact on the "music industry" and comes up with something the RIAA doesn't want to talk about (among other things)
I contend RIAA sales are down because they lost marketshare. There are more CDs being self published or released by non RIAA members than ever before. Sales from websites, concerts and car trunks are taking away sales from traditional labels.
So now we're being protected against something that doesn't necessarily even exist - something that isn't even a threat to us and certainly something that I'm not worried about - but I forgot, I'm the threat here - the miscellaneous bit of wild life that needs to be protected against, and, oh yeah, so are you.