There, I’ve said it. Again: DRM is more appealing than piracy. Agree/disagree?

I don’t want to get all high and mighty with a post and come off like I’m judging other people (but I’m sure I’ll be judged by simply writing about this topic), but our Vongo comment thread has taken a turn for the dark side. A discussion which started in response to a review I wrote of the Vongo service has descended into how to crack Vongo’s DRM.

Ouch.

On one side, this is a good real world example why you should never shut down comments for old posts. The Vongo post was made back in January, some nine months ago and it still is generating conversation. That’s the positive. The negative is the conversation is no longer about the Vongo review, but about how to do something with the Vongo movies that breaks the license agreement.

Ouch again.

I’m probably at least partially to blame opening this can of worms in the comment area by wondering if you signed up, downloaded a bunch of movies and then cancelled Vongo and kept watching the movies what would happen? Others chimed in that this wouldn’t be possible. I didn’t try this myself as we were only with Vongo a couple months before cancelling, but apparently others actually have tried this. Just because I wonder about something doesn’t mean I’d ever actually try it. Good thing there are no thought police. Yet.

When I saw the first comment suggesting a workaround for the Vongo DRM it made me uncomfortable. Having never had a comment thread here like that before, at least that I could remember, I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I remove the comment because it encouraged breaking the licensing of another site/service? Then again, these people couldn’t get the files without paying for the service, so was it the same thing as stealing video via bittorent?

Vexing.

Then I saw other people chime in and the thread started receiving links from other sites saying: go to xyz to learn how or do this and that and this to bypass the Vongo DRM. And when an alleged Vongo employee showed up to comment, I was a bit surprised to read (emphasis mine):

Loved reading all these entries…having a slow night doing Vongo tech support and thought I’d look up some blogs on the service. Was nice to come access one site that didn’t bash it. When you do have trouble with the service, usually it is a pretty easy fix. If we are unable to fix the issue we send it up to level 2 and usually customers will get a responds within 48hrs. Lately our phones have been very busy sorry to anyone that has had to wait hold for help. New hires are being added soon Keep enjoying the service and I will check back to this site … Oh sorry also ment to add…no worries to those of you that are copy the movies….my lips are sealed …have fun.

At least one person who allegedly works at Vongo tech support, found this thread, commented, is willing to look the other way and acknowledges that some of their customers want to break their DRM. I don’t want DRM either, but is piracy the answer? Ok, I know, I know it’s not piracy breaking the DRM, but is breaking the license still ok?

Again, not judging others here or try to play preacher man, but my own ethical compass says no, it’s not. The RIAA and MPAA seem to me to be treating copyright infringement like piracy and they are two different animals. Maybe in the MPAA and RIAA view it’s stealing a bike versus stealing a tricked out Harley, but it’s still stealing. I can’t easily make that same leap of faith.

The most recent comment this morning from Diane asking why the Vongo movies she downloaded won’t play any more and if there is a “workaround” sucked me back into the thread, especially considering if she would have scrolled up and actually read the 50+ comments above she’d have seen the answer, several times, to her question.

Approving comments that set your ethical compass on fire
I can see why some people might want to break the DRM, but I personally disagree with breaking DRM as a solution. The commentary still stands because people that make these DRM decisions need to read this type of commentary somewhere and explain to all of us why they are using DRM when the people who pay to see this content don’t like or want it. Where would I want to draw the line and actually start unapproving, editing or removing comments here on this subject? If people start commenting trying to actually sell their hacked Vongo DRM movie files or point to other sites that are conducting this activity.

The RIAA and MPAA should spend more energy going after the real pirates
I think this is where the RIAA and Hollywood (MPAA) have gotten derailed and I intentionally have muddied up the waters with piracy and DRM in this thread to further illustrate the point. People who want to copy movies for personal use are not the same as people who want to copy and turn around and sell the copies. It’s time that the RIAA and MPAA realize there is a huge difference and focus their efforts on those profiting from pirated music and movies instead of some grandmother in a small town who’s computer was used for Kazaa.

If people want to break the Vongo license agreement, that’s their own personal call. If people want to use bittorrent to suck down movies, again, their call. Personally, I’d rather buy the DVD than movies online because I get the packaging and can resell the physical goods versus the online pricing structure and DRM irritations which I’ve covered here several times before.

As a music and movie consumer I want complete archival freedom, not so I can sell illegal copies to my friends, but so I don’t have to buy the same movies and music on new formats. Even with this strategy, I still end up buying some of the same movies and music in new formats. Or new versions with more special features or original theatrical versions. It doesn’t seem like digital movies or audio will be sold that way online any time soon.

Here there are so many people willing to break license agreements and DRM for an online movie service that launched in 2006, probably most of them are good people otherwise that wouldn’t walk into a store and steal something off the shelves. It’s an ethical compass argument and I understand where they are coming from but I also understand where the music and movie organizations are concerned too.

I don’t agree with either side completely, guess I’m somewhere in the muddy middle, but I understand the arguments for both sides and see a need for continued discussion and debate and hopefully someday a reasonable, fair solution for both sides.

So the comments for that thread live on despite going a place I didn’t expect to go, and yes again they make me uncomfortable, but then so does the whole state of DRM. If given the choice between piracy or DRM, I’m sticking with DRM for the moment. If given the choice between choosing DRM or breaking the DRM, I’ll choose DRM. Reluctantly.

But I really, really, really despise conflicting and restrictive DRM. It’s the reason I have bought only a couple iTunes songs to date. It’s not that I don’t like iTunes because it’s great on the Mac, but I don’t want to crack the DRM to be able to listen to the music on non-Apple devices. I’d rather buy the CD and rip to MP3 so I can listen anywhere, any time and any place. I paid for it, now remove the digital handcuffs please.

The only solution I can offer both sides, and I’m far and away not the first one to suggest this, is to lift the whole DRM structure and vigorously pursue and prosecute the real pirates. Just as technology has enabled pirates, it can also aid law enforcement. And it’s important to stop confusing and treating archival options for consumers the same as copying and reselling copyrighted content.

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