Betamax all over again

[Digital M@]

Yeah, I am not too worried, first of all, I watch almost no TV and if Hollywood makes movies too expensive to rent or buy, I will just do something else, I never have enough time for all of my hobbies anyway.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I can't really comment about this on this site due to the rules.

 

[Lazybones]

I think the media creation firms are taking the long view. Within a decade or so (give or take a few years), I predict that the majority of our media (games, movies, television programs, music) will be On Demand via a high-speed internet connection (either by fiber to the home or ultrafast wireless, both of which currently exist but are in their nascent stages of deployment publicly). The media folks, IMO, want a regime where every use is charged, every time you play the game or listen to the song you pay a few cents, every time you watch the movie you pay a few bucks, and when you are done, it's just GONE. "Ownership" of media is already a false concept in their estimation; look at the current licensing systems for digital media that we already have in place, and the attempted erosion of Fair Use we're seeing now.

I agree that the current attempt isn't really at a cusp right now (although sometimes these things can shift quickly), but the media industries just keep pushing, trying again and again, and every now and then they manage to get some thing to their benefit passed (copyright extensions, DMCA), and they have plenty of money and clout for the long run.

I think that the savvy technologist will always have alternatives and be able to get around whatever DRM these industries are able to put into place. They aren't the ones the industry is worried about; again IMO I think the goal is just to lock up the casual consumer (i.e. 95% of the public).

This is one case where I hope I'm just wearing a tinfoil hat.

 

[Dinkeldog]

This has gotten way too political. I'd expect people that have been at the site for more than 3 years to know better than to break this rule.