It’s been a while.

I’m writing because I’d like to be able to watch Pixar’s “Wall-e”.

Funny thing to want, but there you are.

Now, to stop speculation before it starts, I’ve actually hired the movie, and bought an (ex-rental) copy.

So, you might say, why don’t you stick it in your DVD player, sit back and enjoy?

Well, my DVD player is a Mac Mini, that’s why. It’s a really nice centralised system — with a 20 inch Apple screen — which has hitherto been able to play everything I wanted it to. Except a Goldfrapp CD (“Black Cherry” from memory. That got sold at a garage sale a year ago and I bought the album on iTunes instead. I think that experience resulted in a rant discussion about the merits of Digital Rights Management, Copy Protection and which particular orifice these should be stuffed into.)

What I object to the most is being treated like a thief.

I’ve paid my money for a copy of this movie, completely legitimately. I’ve even hired the movie from a DVD rental place. Legitimate use I’d call that.

Yet, my system, purchased at great expense, is unable to play the disc. The disc has been set-up NOT to conform to the DVD standard, and has effectively broken the DVD for use on this kind of system.

What the funniest thing about all of this is that it’s legitimate users that are targeted by copy protection. No, that’s actually ironic – the fact that the people who are happy to do the right thing and hand their hard-earned money over for a real-live copy of a movie that’s been produced by a movie studio (and in the aforementioned CD example, by a music studio — in that case I think it was Sony, whose stock in the music-listening-community must surely have reached rock-bottom by now) get penalised for having a particular style of system.

In fact, this attitude plays right into the hands of the pirates, for what’s a person to do – they want to purchase the movie and it’s broken. They’re prepared to hire the movie and it won’t play. What other alternative is there if the demand exists?

That’s why DRM is doomed to failure – because of the very supply versus demand principles that the western economy is based upon: The supply in this case is useless, but the demand is still there – so people (not me in this case, for I’m not at all like that) will try alternative means to obtain what they’re after.

It’s the same principle that whole countries are applying to AIDS vaccines and anti-retroviral drugs. The pharma companies won’t supply these life-saving drugs to countries that “can’t pay for them” and so the countries themselves say “screw that” and make their own.

In short, all that DRM says to me is that the companies producing the products that use them are  one thing over all else: Greedy.

Back in the days of yore, everyone and their dog was copying records onto tape and playing them. Did that send the music industry into a tailspin?

People were copying movies back in the 80s… did that send the movie companies to the wall?

Here’s a thing: I don’t think copying movies or CDs is a bad thing – I think it’s great for the artists involved because — like social networking — it has the potential to get even more people to view or listen to a piece of work.

But DRM and “Copy Protection” is all about the production company dinosaurs hanging onto outdated marketing and supply strategies. The world has moved into a new place, where information is open to all. When the companies finally do wise-up, they’ll jump on this bandwagon and will make a mint doing it.

But while they hang onto this idiotic selling model, based on a shortage principle (rather than the open “abundance” principle mentioned above) then yes, they will continue a slow downward spiral until hopefully someone in government will stand up to these idiots and say “no more” – you are not allowed to penalise customers for doing the right thing. You are not allowed to sue mums and dads for having a couple of copies of a movie on their computer – we shall call that henceforth “fair use”.

I hope it happens soon.