I played around with the Wal-Mart Music service a little. Eight-eight cents a song, you get a protected WMA file that will play in Windows Media Player 9, can be burned to ten CDs and can be copied onto two other computers. The selection seemed pretty decent to me, I had no problem spending $15 on tracks to try it out.
I do not steal music. I try to sell music myself – plus most of the artists that I like are not making millions and really need my patronage to continue. As an economist, I know when I buy something, sellers will give me more of it. I want to legally own every file on my mp3 player.
At the same time, the protection schemes chase me away. I purchased tunes on Apple’s iTunes because the hackers are out front of the curve and I can port their .m4p files into plain old vanilla mp3s. The hackers have not yet cracked the WMA DRM, although with either of them you can burn a CD and then rip the CD to mp3. Some loss in quality (I can’t hear it) and some extra typing, and you have an mp3 that you can do nefarious things with.
So, they provide a method for people to steal. Ergo, the protection scheme is worthless – but they do make it a nuisance for legal users (they are called “customers” in some industries). I cannot put my Wal-Mart files on my wonderful RCA RD2840 mp3 player. If the computer I bought it on is replaced or dies, I cannot download them again, after I replace my computer twice, I cannot use these files.
I will honor your property rights, publishers. I already do. You have to honor my property rights and allow me to really own and use the license I have purchased.
If the restrictions are reduced more people will certainly steal – but, but, but – many more will buy. The RIAA is petrified of “Schumpeterian gales of creative destruction.” In reality they can resell their entire catalogs in a new format with very low overhead.
Posted by jk at March 25, 2004 09:59 AM