DRM-free video is yet to emerge.
Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
221–230 of 479 posts
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#222This whole streaming idea has also got me thinking about how we are not leaving behind a legacy. There is nothing to discover once you are gone. Your subscription just... ends.
I’m not sure that’s how I want to live. I mean, it’s convenient having access. But now that I have had access, it’s clear that I actually still have to shop around on the services, and so I might maybe just as well buy what I want instead of buying all of something for a period, and lose any trace of it after.
I think I prefer buying.
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would require copyright holders to renew their copyright. 5 years for free, then $1 for the 6th year, $2 for the 7th, $4 for the 8th, $8 for the 9th, $1m for the 25th, etc.
Not every copyright holder is a massive corporation. Artists produce many pieces per year. That would cost them a lot to keep copyrights.
I think that's the point, to send works nobody is making money with to the public domain faster. Rather than the politically untenable idea of shortening the ever-expanding length of copyright.
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#224Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it. You can enjoy it offline, and in 20 years long after the studio that licensed it is gone. You can give it to a friend or loan it out. Or sell it. It is yours. Meanwhile DRM media we pay full price for, or if the content is only available via streaming we pay for…
You're right. I've returned to buying only physical media -- haven't purchased an online format for 6 months+. I agree, we got played. About a year ago, Amazon changed the verbiage on the ui from "you own this movie" to "you purchased this movie". That was my clue and trigger to change.
An interesting exception - it is still Audible's policy to say you keep everything you've bought if you decide to cancel a subscription. This still ties those books to their app but it seems like the best we can hope for given the alternative choice.
There have been at various times scripts found on GitHub, BitBucket and the rest that will convert the files to MP3, effectively breaking out of the DRM, but this has been hit or miss in my experience.
My pipe dream for all of these services is still a buyout clause which would provide you with the unprotected files for a fee, but with the rise in popularity of streaming services, legally and financially, there doesn't seem to be much will to help a shrinking segment of the customer base with a niche concern.
How much to charge for this would be a terrible debate, as trying to do it "at cost" per purchase - presumably the company's preference - would be heinously expensive.
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>the ability to use it has been greatly diminished Really? I have tons of music ripped from CDs on my iPhone and I can trivially play that in my car. I have CD players in my car (which I never use) and attached to my stereo (which I rarely use). It's not that the ability to play CDs (or rip them and play them) has been diminished but a lot of people prefer to just use a streaming service. I'll grant that many people…
> I have tons of music ripped from CDs Are you suggesting that it's a simple and convenient thing to do for the public?
That supports ghaff’s original point. It’s far more convenient to stream music than deal with CDs period.
Automakers didn’t remove CD players despite people wanting them. They did it because enough customers were not willing to pay a premium to have the CD player. I would rather have a larger screen for CarPlay, and I’m betting most people who use streaming apps/MP3s would too.
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>the ability to use it has been greatly diminished Really? I have tons of music ripped from CDs on my iPhone and I can trivially play that in my car. I have CD players in my car (which I never use) and attached to my stereo (which I rarely use). It's not that the ability to play CDs (or rip them and play them) has been diminished but a lot of people prefer to just use a streaming service. I'll grant that many people…
> I have tons of music ripped from CDs Are you suggesting that it's a simple and convenient thing to do for the public?
Yeah? Didn't we all burn mixed CDs to trade as kids? Most cars have an aux plug, and there are still standalone mp3 players with a drag and drop interface
Shoot, almost ten years ago I ripped my dad's CDs and put them all on a SanDisk mp3 player. He's almost certainly just using it as is.. I'd have to ask, but his music taste has been set for thirty years; he doesn't need to put anything new on it, ever.
All he needs to know how to do is unplug it from the stereo and plug it into the jack in the car.
What's hard here?
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are there similar platforms for buying ebooks? I like ebooks but I'm not comfortable with all the layers of DRM involved in it.
Ironically, DRM drives me towards Z-Lib and Libgen, when I happily payed No Starch for their stuff. Especially their bundles are a smart move in the digital age. Also, see e.g. Steam, you cannot charge for these digital goods the way you used to. It's shifting towards (searchable) collections, not just individual books. It's ridiculous, when digital edition cost almost as much as print. They are emotionally and funct…
I used to work in the industry: Print really isn't much more expensive to produce than ebooks, so there's not a huge different in cost.
A hardcover will cost around $3-$4 in printing costs. Even still, ebooks can be a good deal. To use a recent example that wouldn't yet have any digital discounts, there's the John Boehner book [0]. As of this comment, it has an MSRP of $29.99. The Kindle version is $14.99. At actual retail, Barnes & Noble charges $23.99. At Amazon it's $17.99, which makes the savings on print costs a wash.
Mid-size paper backs are usually a fair bit cheaper too. Mass-market editions are the bad deals: In print they retail around $8 to $10, which is usually the ebook cost too. However, many books never make it to mass market editions theses days.
The bulk of the costs involved in bringing a book to market are the people: Time to review the "slush pile", pay the author, editor, copy editor, typesetting, marketing. And many books either lose money for the publisher or barely earn out the author's advance. Mid-list authors who can consistently earn out their advance with a healthy margin are the ones that keep the lights on long enough for the publisher to (hopefully) catch lightning in a bottle with a block buster, or at least an outsized success.
Of course all of the costs above assume you're buying a new copy. Used books are often a very good deal.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/House-John-Boehner/dp/1250238447/ref=...
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>the ability to use it has been greatly diminished Really? I have tons of music ripped from CDs on my iPhone and I can trivially play that in my car. I have CD players in my car (which I never use) and attached to my stereo (which I rarely use). It's not that the ability to play CDs (or rip them and play them) has been diminished but a lot of people prefer to just use a streaming service. I'll grant that many people…
> I have tons of music ripped from CDs Are you suggesting that it's a simple and convenient thing to do for the public?
Streaming is more convenient for most people. Ripping is as simple as it was 20 years ago when much of the general public had no trouble doing so. It’s just that there are simpler alternatives that weren’t available then.
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is why supporting DRM-free stores is important (e.g. Bandcamp for music and GOG for games).
DRM-free media stores: https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/ (scroll down).
DRM isn't the only problem. Watermarks are as well, they ruin the sound quality. Its a bit disappointing FSF doesn't mention Fairphone, as they offer a smartphone made from slave-free labour (Librem 5 isn't).
Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies
#230Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it. You can enjoy it offline, and in 20 years long after the studio that licensed it is gone. You can give it to a friend or loan it out. Or sell it. It is yours. Meanwhile DRM media we pay full price for, or if the content is only available via streaming we pay for…
"The books stopped working" is a fantastic writing prompt for a dystopian novel.
> I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
From [Libertarian Police Department](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/l-p-d-libertari...)