Gruber: Interperobility and DRM Are Exclusive

I just thought I would highlight one of John Gruber's (A.K.A. Daring Fireball's) old articles: Interoperability and DRM Are Mutually Exclusive. This is probably one of the best articles about DRM, because it doesn't go onto the usual DRM-bashing tirade, but instead, actually talks about a solution to the problem, and why the solution would work.

Record industry executives refuse to believe what is patently obvious to anyone with a clue — they are never ever going to regain complete control over the distribution of recorded music. They so desperately want this that they believe it must be possible, but the very nature of DRM is that it is diametrically opposed to interoperability.

What’s most infuriating is how the mainstream media plays along with the entertainment industry, parroting their calls for nonsensical “DRM interoperability” as though it’s all perfectly reasonable.

Calling for “interoperability” without any practical suggestion as to how it could be achieved is just an empty platitude. It’s like demanding “a cheap source of energy” or “a cure for cancer”. But unlike the energy problem or cancer, digital media interoperability is not an intractable problem. There’s an obvious solution staring everyone in the face.

A very good read, particularly in the light of non-drm'ed downloads from Yahoo.