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To: jbn3 who wrote (57216)	9/19/2006 4:45:02 AM
From: Doren	Respond to of 213182

The DRM thing is nasty and interesting. It will change lots of things. For example I'm guessing that older non DRM media will rise in price while DRM media will be resisted. Just a guess. It's all very interesting. The used vinyl record market is thriving. However it's selective. Condition/quality is everything. It's too cumbersome to be popular among the masses of course. We now have 4 major formats just for music: CDs Vinyl iTunes mp3 Then there is SACD and DVD audio. There is also a growing number of collectors of non bootlegged live one off CDs, sold by artists after concerts. Not to mention snd ogg and several other better than mp3 digital formats. I think Allen is not unique buying CDs after listening to illegal copies. I do this too but more often I'll download an illegal copy to preview the music then decide NOT to buy the CD. I nearly always dump the copy after that. Why would I keep it on my computer if I don't like it? I'm not at all afraid of admitting it. I think the distributors go after uploaders and I do very little of that. Out of print music is now very popular to digitize and up/download. There are whole sites devoted to this type of music. Many many blogs out there with OOP (out of print) music that is freely downloadable. Each time there is a new large change, the business further fragments, and the mainstream market shrinks a little. I think these DRM schemes will contribute to that. Eventually this may all come back to bite the distributors in the butt. What if there are 3 or 4 competing and incompatible DRM download versions and several types of DRM disks in both the both audio and video markets? It may end up like the VHS vs. Beta wars except consumers may become shy to buy anything DRM, or just sick of hassleing with it, and deciding that Non DRM CDs/DVDs and or existing high bit rate mp3 rips are the best bet. I can even envision falling prices for DRM copies and a market in used CDs/DVDs thriving with rising prices. Consumers may get tired of re buying their music. For example I own both the vinyl and CD versions of many of my recordings. The more fragmentation that happens the longer it will take to sort it out. It may get out of hand.