O'Reilly Holds DRM Debate at Mac OS X Conference

suzanne writes "A panel discussion was just added to the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, moderated by Dan Gillmor. He and Cory Doctorow, J.D. Lasica, Victor Nemechek, and Tim O'Reilly debate the expansive, pro-customer stance on DRM built in to Mac OS X. (Oh, and in case you don't have enough toys to play with yet, the complete conference schedule is available via iCal, Apple's latest groovy app.)"

Why...?

[Anonymous Coward]

...didn't this make it to the main Slashdot page? Especially when it's full of DRM stories about Windows and x86. You don't think Mac users care about their rights?

Re:Why...?

[coolgeek]

Probably so a semi-objective discussion could ensue, with people who use Macs (and therefore people who have a better chance to actually know WTF they're talking about) participating, instead of the three-ring circus which has become the /. norm.

Re:Apple...

[pauljlucas]

...isn't that what the mac is? a desktop multimedia machine.

No, the Mac is a desktop Unix machine that, among many other things, just so happens to be good at manipulating digital content.

A typical /. comment

[mhesseltine]

Why wait? Join the penguin side now. Get away from the closed, proprietary, DRM, ??AA enforced fluff.

All kidding aside, just because a NEW mac comes out with DRM and other assorted crap, doesn't mean that your machine instantly becomes subject to the same.

Re:For mac users...

[tupps]

This is a discussion at an O'Reilly conference, I don't think it is going to change Apple's strategy in consideration of DRM. I hope Apple continues down the same route that they followed with the iPOD, eg stick a big bright sticker on the box saying: "Don't Steal Music" It is probably just as effective as all the other measures put in place.

Re:"Consumer-friendly" DRM?

[clontzman]

Thanks, but that was the way it came out of the box. I didn't set anything. I've since changed that behavior and all's well, but that's a really stupid and destructive default behavior. How about a dialogue box: "I'm about to delete 6 GB from this iPod and replace it with the dozen or so songs in this library. Are you sure that's what you want?"

THAT's consumer-friendly DRM.

Re:"Consumer-friendly" DRM?

[clontzman]

Actually, I had used the iPod in my PC at home via EphPod, which didn't require me to "lock" it to the computer. So when I brought it back to work, it said, "Hey, I know this iPod!" and proceeded to wipe it clean because it thought the iPod "belonged" to it.

Maybe I'm an unusual case, but it seems like the software should be a little smarter than that. At any rate, it's Apple's default sync behavior that screwed me. You could say it was "my fault," but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has made the "mistake" of thinking I could use my iPod on a Mac and a PC without having it erased without warning.