"But yet none of the music in iTunes has DRM and yet it also makes robust revenues."
This is totally misleading.
The music industry was wiped out and digital revenues are net, a fraction of what they would be.
The 'new equilibrium' on the Supply and Demand curve is now 'iTunes' and a few other things.
So yes, in this new crappy market, some people can make money, but it's bad.
" DRM doesn't really stop anyone -- it's convenience that people care about"
You've contradicted yourself in the same statement.
We know 'DRM' won't stop 'everyone', but it's totally misleading to say 'DRM won't stop anyone'.
Everytime someone buys a piece of media DRM 'has stopped someone'
Every Netflix subscriber is an example of 'DRM stopping someone'
Every iTunes film purchase is an example of 'DRM stopping someone'
... because, as you point out 'nobody would pay for music' - or any other form of content, if they didn't have to.
So, DRM puts the 'Supply and Demand' equilibrium up pretty high for most video.
Studios can still make money 'the old way' using our current DRM systems.
In music, for reasons of how it's consumed etc., the 'old ways' are destroyed, so they've had to adjust to a new equilibrium.
It's a really difficult argument to have with HNers, I'm more interested in what kind of logic is going on in their minds.
If movie studios and netflixed released their mp4s, with no DRM or copyright protections, then everyone, including my non-tech savvy mother would just go to the widely available resources found on Google, and just 'watch it for free'.
Obviously this would wipe out film production.
If we want films, which are expensive to make, we have to pay for them, one way or another. There is no way around it.
This has nothing to do with DRM, and everything to do with Google/YouTube removing search results / videos for copyright infringing material and dedicated websites!
Removing DRM doesn't make "piracy" legal !
As a further proof of this, high quality "pirated" versions of TV shows / movies are available a few days after they are available on (DRMed!) optical disk and mere hours for (DRMed!) streaming !
And note also that DRM for video is broken much faster than DRM for video games (and with a resulting "product" that is much more convenient) - all while a not insignificant amount of video games is sold without any DRM, with a whole online store - GoG - using the lack of it to differentiate itself from the competition !
> If movie studios and netflixed released their mp4s, with no DRM or copyright protections, then everyone, including my non-tech savvy mother would just go to the widely available resources found on Google, and just 'watch it for free'.
What is stopping them right now? All that content is already available on piracy sites. Clearly your model of human behavior is laughably incorrect.
This is totally misleading.
The music industry was wiped out and digital revenues are net, a fraction of what they would be.
The 'new equilibrium' on the Supply and Demand curve is now 'iTunes' and a few other things.
So yes, in this new crappy market, some people can make money, but it's bad.
" DRM doesn't really stop anyone -- it's convenience that people care about"
You've contradicted yourself in the same statement.
We know 'DRM' won't stop 'everyone', but it's totally misleading to say 'DRM won't stop anyone'.
Everytime someone buys a piece of media DRM 'has stopped someone'
Every Netflix subscriber is an example of 'DRM stopping someone'
Every iTunes film purchase is an example of 'DRM stopping someone'
... because, as you point out 'nobody would pay for music' - or any other form of content, if they didn't have to.
So, DRM puts the 'Supply and Demand' equilibrium up pretty high for most video.
Studios can still make money 'the old way' using our current DRM systems.
In music, for reasons of how it's consumed etc., the 'old ways' are destroyed, so they've had to adjust to a new equilibrium.
It's a really difficult argument to have with HNers, I'm more interested in what kind of logic is going on in their minds.
If movie studios and netflixed released their mp4s, with no DRM or copyright protections, then everyone, including my non-tech savvy mother would just go to the widely available resources found on Google, and just 'watch it for free'.
Obviously this would wipe out film production.
If we want films, which are expensive to make, we have to pay for them, one way or another. There is no way around it.