Okay, so the Yahoo! music store is the latest one to shut down, taking with it the DRM authorization servers required to use the "purchased" music. (Since I've never touched Yahoo! music, I have no idea if the DRM servers are required to play music, every 90 days, when you want to move computers, or what. The relevant bit is that you'll run into a problem sooner or later with the servers gone.)
This has been covered before, so let's just quickly recap:
- You can't buy DRM encumbered media, only lease with an option to get screwed.
- The option to get screwed is exercised at the discretion of whoever owns the DRM infrastructure.
- Do you think that the company actually wants to keep a whole collection of servers up and running for the last three people using purchases from a music store that was discontinued 4 years ago in favor of a new, more profitable one?
- Revoking DRM is a brutally effective method of forcing consumers to leave an old platform, in hopes they'll all sign up for its successor. The fact that customers were happy with the old platform isn't perceived as a downside; it's the reason why the company is doing it in the first place.
- Strong DRM means that companies can use technical means to enforce policies, regardless of their legality. Existing code doesn't automatically update to reflect new court rulings, and your only appeal is with the companies helpdesk.
All those of you who have been writing about the dangers of DRM may now proceed to jump up and down while shouting "I told you so!"
