

Why 2024 Will Be Like 1984: Amazon And The Kindle - quoderat
http://www.slate.com/id/2223214/

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potatolicious
Disclaimer: I work for Amazon, though I am not related to the Kindle team in
any way.

This is nothing new - DRM already allows banning of digital material long
before the Kindle came about. Back when iTunes was stilled DRMed Apple could
easily have de-authorized all instances of a particular song and done the
exact same thing. Having the file is a trivial detail - it's no good if you
cannot access the decrypted material.

Personally I have faith. We have, in a few short years, progressed from the
draconian DRM of iTunes to the non-DRM stores that both Apple and Amazon run
today. We have also progressed from restrictive DRM measures on video games to
the decidedly anti-DRM stance of major game publishers today.

We have proven that DRM can be defeated, so I wouldn't scream bloody murder
just yet.

~~~
joubert
I think DRM for literature, news, or other reading material has far more
serious implications than that for music, video, etc. The former is a tool to
fight against opaque institutions, the latter is just entertainment.

~~~
woodsier
While I see the point you are trying to make I disagree. You can't possibly
think that music and video as mediums have not played their part in fighting
for or against certain causes.

~~~
hyuhgtf
Do you think a right wing S African Billionaire is likely to buy the rights to
the Specials' 'Free Nelson Mandela' so they can delete it from everyones iPod.

~~~
joubert
Did you have a particular right-wing SA billionaire in mind?

