DRM 'Increases Consumer Value'?Macrovision chimes in with corporate-speak missive
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old news - 01:39PM Friday Feb 16 2007)
tags: business · contentMacrovision is one of the original pioneers of annoying DRM, and they have published a letter to Steve Jobs over at
their website. Some, of course, argue that eliminating DRM and giving consumers what they want makes
good business sense. Macrovision, however, quickly sets those people straight, noting that DRM actually
increases consumer value. How? We'll let Macrovision CEO Fred Amoroso explain:
"I believe that most piracy occurs because the technology available today has not yet been widely deployed to make DRM-protected legitimate content as easily accessible and convenient as unprotected illegitimate content is to consumers. The solution is to accelerate the deployment of convenient DRM-protected distribution channelsnot to abandon them.
Without a reasonable, consistent and transparent DRM we will only delay consumers in receiving premium content in the home, in the way they want it. For example, DRM is uniquely suitable for metering usage rights, so that consumers who don't want to own content, such as a movie, can "rent" it.
Similarly, consumers who want to consume content on only a single device can pay less than those who want to use it across all of their entertainment areas vacation homes, cars, different devices and remotely. Abandoning DRM now will unnecessarily doom all consumers to a "one size fits all" situation that will increase costs for many of them."
Kind of like how broadband consumers don't want lower prices -- they want a higher
"value equation." We got it.