> How would content producers possibly deter copying without exerting control on the consumption hardware and software? The only answer there is standardized DR

> How would content producers possibly deter copying without exerting control on the consumption hardware and software? The only answer there is standardized DRM. They could use the legal mechanisms that have existed in copyright law for a long time: they could find, and sue, infringers. Part of the problem with DRM is precisely that it shifts the power to decide what infringement vs. fair use is away from the legal system, which has checks and balances and has to keep the interests of the public in mind, and toward those who control the technology. That is not an appropriate shift: copyright is a legal right to certain forms of control over work, given to creators as a compromise. It provides an incentive for them to produce that work, which is in the public interest. But how far that control extends should be a matter for the law, not media companies, to decide.