Will CE vendors start steering clear of DRM?

[mjh]

At the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), there will be abundant evidence of at least some exhibitors, perhaps many, abandoning their dependence on digital rights management technologies in favor of spurring more digital music downloads.

But DRM is likely to remain a bugaboo for some time to come in the area of high-definition digital video, where an emerging standard from China might actually bring the best chance of squelching the ongoing proprietary struggle between the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps.

As CES gets ready to unfold in Las Vegas, a surge of recent changes is giving welcome relief on the music download side, which seemes to have been seriously hampered until quite recently by the DRM restrictions of Apple's iTunes.

The rest of the article available over at BetaNews

It wasn't long ago where many people believed record companies were scared of releasing and promoting DRM-free music... but it looks like companies are now willing to take a chance if it means more sales.

Do you think this is a trend we'll see even more of next year?

 

[palehorse]

It was certainly cool to see the Bonf-man take Warner in a new direction last week!

 

[Rainsford]

It will be a trend to the extent that the music industry behaves logically. DRM is totally useless as copy protection against anyone with any skills at all, and because it's so easy to make and distribute tools that automate those skills, pretty much anyone with access to Google can get around DRM restrictions if they really want to. By the same token, DRM is a huge pain in the ass for honest customers who don't understand why they can't listen to their music that they bought however they want. So DRM basically is useless at achieving its goals, and makes the product less desirable at the same time. It doesn't take Warren Buffet to figure out how this story should end.