FeedsDRM Woes
Feb/05/2009 08:44 PM
I am not someone who is exactly against DRM, for the most part I don't mind it. I buy stuff from the Apple Store all the time and haven't been too affected by the DRM.
I did encounter some issues with it today however. Though, overall, it hasn't been too bad, I was annoyed by what I did deal with.
I installed a new CPU in my computer yesterday finally. Last year I purchased tons of new parts for my computer, but I kept the same CPU I had previously. I now have replaced my older Pentium D dual core with a Q9400 quad core chip. This is a massive improvement and am very happy with it. However, I have came up with two DRM issues that I believe are related to the change in hardware on my machine. It seems to be likely that the DRM is using the serial number in the CPU as at least one identifier.
The first thing I noticed was when I went to sync my iPod Touch. I had added an app to it earlier in the day when I was at work. When it went to sync, it told me it couldn't transfer the app to my computer as the computer wasn't authorized for it. It asked me for my login information to authorize the machine, and after I entered it, it said I was already authorized. Of course, the error still continued when I tried to re-sync. This problem was easily fixed though. I just had to deauthorize my computer, and then authorize it again, and then everything was working fine.
The next issue came later in the night and that I haven't really fixed. I went to watch a show using Netflix Watch Instantly and the moment I hit 'Play', it would go to the page when the video would normally start playing and Internet Explorer would simply crash. I use this almost daily and the problem didn't start until yesterday. That uses DRM as well, so I can only imagine that the CPU change has messed up the DRM for Netflix. I tried reinstalling the Netflix application, but it didn't fix anything. I will get more into this in a separate blog post, but I have now learned there is a new player that uses Microsoft Silverlight and that is working fine.
DRM is slowly going away, but I imagine it will always be around in some fashion. I would hope that any DRM scheme would at least have some consideration that any hardware in a computer could change and there should at least be some way to reset the DRM easily after that change. iTunes did it well, though the errors it gave could have been more helpful.
4 Comments
This is among one of the many reasons I don't used DRM'd music etc. Just one thing to point out though, is that now Apple is going DRMless and your previous music will be able to be converted to the new DRM free kind (for a fee of course). Personally, I like to buy CD's and rip them, rather than have them purchased online. Since I am in Korea now, I may just have to purchase them online though as there is not much in the way of American music here (unless I want to buy "Abba's Greatest Hits").
Comment by: Neil on February 06, 2009 07:51 AM
Isn't ABBA Swedish? I am liking the fact that Apple is finally able to get away from DRM music. Like I was saying, I think it's mostly going to go away. But, for instance, they still seem to use DRM on the iPod/iPhone applications. I primarily like the convenience factor of digital music. No waiting, no having to drive anywhere to buy it. I am a lazy ass, so being able to just click a button and have what I want suits me. It's also way I have rarely ever downloaded music through file sharing. It's so much easier to get everything working if I just buy it in iTunes.
Comment by: Cameron Bulock on February 06, 2009 10:14 AM
Hey,
I didn't notice this comment at first as I usually read with Google reader. Have you ever considered putting comment threads as well as an automatic reply by email to the comments?
I know what you mean about convenience. Are you going to convert your itunes music into DRM-free music?
Comment by: Neil Vitale on February 09, 2009 09:20 AM
I have thought about having the ability to send an email to commenter's when someone replies. In fact, that feature is already mostly coded. I don't recall why but I didn't finish it and I haven't really thought about it lately, so its still sitting there waiting to be completed. As for converting to DRM free music, it costs 30 cents a song to do that, and I only play my music in iTunes and on my iPod anyway, so the DRM isn't really bothering me. I think I'll leave it as is for now.
Comment by: Cameron Bulock on February 09, 2009 09:40 AM