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Hey, not trying to make you or anyone else feel guilty. In fact I specifically chose my words to not do so. I just think developer talent is wasted on stuff tha

Hey, not trying to make you or anyone else feel guilty. In fact I specifically chose my words to not do so. I just think developer talent is wasted on stuff that is ultimately useless at best, and making life harder for legal users at worst.

iqanq 5y ago
DRM is very hard to get right, it's some sort of challenge. It's no wonder it attracts very bright minds and they probably are happy working on it.
ratg13 5y ago
Your argument is predicated on the assumption that all DRM is bad, which is just simply not reality. Many companies implement DRM in ways that are poor, excessive, overreaching, needlessly restrictive, etc. .. and yes, while poor implementations are frequent, it does not mean that DRM itself is worthless or an enemy of society. In fact, good implementations of DRM are exactly what is needed in order to prevent hackers from stealing your most valuable digital assets. The issue is that in conversation DRM is used as a perjorative, whereas terms like data loss prevention are somehow seen as non-malicious, even though it is the same core idea.
- iso1631 5y ago
  Could you tell us digital assets have been successfully protected by DRM?
  - ratg13 5y ago
    We use Microsoft Information Protection solutions for all of our important documents which includes things like sensitivity labels which ensure only the users that have been appropriate clearance can view them. People can e-mail the documents or do whatever they want with them, and Microsoft's DRM ensures that only the users that have access are able to view them. The whole thing is totally seamless and requires no extra effort on the part of the users. Our corporate documents can't be stolen without comprimising both someone's account and two-factor authentication. It's a great example of DRM done well.
    - savolai 5y ago
      What does it do to prevent taking a photo of a screen?
      - ratg13 5y ago
        Fair point, I should not have said can't. No DRM is a perfect solution, my only point is that DRM itself isn't inherently evil.
  - beebmam 5y ago
    Bitlocker. Or most other software that interfaces with a TPM to protect your secrets

iqanq 5y ago

DRM is very hard to get right, it's some sort of challenge. It's no wonder it attracts very bright minds and they probably are happy working on it.

ratg13 5y ago

Your argument is predicated on the assumption that all DRM is bad, which is just simply not reality. Many companies implement DRM in ways that are poor, excessive, overreaching, needlessly restrictive, etc. .. and yes, while poor implementations are frequent, it does not mean that DRM itself is worthless or an enemy of society. In fact, good implementations of DRM are exactly what is needed in order to prevent hackers from stealing your most valuable digital assets. The issue is that in conversation DRM is used as a perjorative, whereas terms like data loss prevention are somehow seen as non-malicious, even though it is the same core idea.

iso1631 5y ago
Could you tell us digital assets have been successfully protected by DRM?
- ratg13 5y ago
  We use Microsoft Information Protection solutions for all of our important documents which includes things like sensitivity labels which ensure only the users that have been appropriate clearance can view them. People can e-mail the documents or do whatever they want with them, and Microsoft's DRM ensures that only the users that have access are able to view them. The whole thing is totally seamless and requires no extra effort on the part of the users. Our corporate documents can't be stolen without comprimising both someone's account and two-factor authentication. It's a great example of DRM done well.
  - savolai 5y ago
    What does it do to prevent taking a photo of a screen?
    - ratg13 5y ago
      Fair point, I should not have said can't. No DRM is a perfect solution, my only point is that DRM itself isn't inherently evil.
- beebmam 5y ago
  Bitlocker. Or most other software that interfaces with a TPM to protect your secrets