Warren Ellis Comments on Second Life

I didn’t know who Warren Ellis:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Ellis was until I looked him up on Wikipedia, but these articles on the Reuters website are fun and interesting comments about what happens in Second Life. I have no experience of Second Life, and find its popularity rather bemusing, but nevertheless it’s something fun to keep half an eye on. These articles are at a much more human level than most about Second Life, simply because they are about Ellis’s experiences of the game.

As I hammer home (over) regularly, I don’t agree with the use of DRM on download-to-keep media. After all, you have downloaded it to keep and shouldn’t have to go through a large amount of hassle to be able to use it in a manner the content owners disapprove of, such as having it on two computers at once (shock! horror!). I can see DRM having uses in other fields and pricing models, however.

Interestingly, especially in light of some of my previous posts, it’s fairly obvious from this open letter from Steve Jobs that having to place DRM on the music they sell through the iTunes music store is something that drives Apple nuts.

I think it’s quite brave of Steve Jobs to post something like this, especially in light of the love-hate relationship the record companies seem to have with Apple. I really hope this is reflective of both Steve’s and Apple’s true views on the subject — that they would remove DRM from the Apple store “in a heartbeat” if they could sell the same songs — and not a cynical play. More and more technology companies are coming out and saying DRM is crazy and unsustainable; how long until the music companies figure this out?

As I read around the informational quagmire that is the Information Super Highway, I often come across bits and pieces that I want to write about here, things which I feel should be read by as many people as possible.

For some things, I can write a useful commentary which I feel adds something to the linked content in question. Many times, however, I will start to write and realise I’m regurgitating the article’s content. For these stories, articles and entries, I’ve decided to go the path many have treaded before me — start posting link-blogs. Of course, I shall also continue writing proper content — link blogs feel like a cheat to me. Perhaps, therefore, this will be the first of many or a style that, for me, will sink without trace.

The vista_cost paper I linked to a couple of weeks ago has obviously caused some consternation at Microsoft HQ, as they’ve taken the time to write a response on the Windows Vista Team Blog.

What is most interesting about the reply is that it makes no attempt to discredit any of the assertions in the original paper &— which is indicative that most, if not all, of the statements about possible problems with Vista’s DRM restrictions are accurate. Especially, and tellingly, there is no denial that adding these restrictions will have a cost that will fall on device manufacturers and, therefore, be passed onto consumers. That is, you have to pay both financially and in the function of you computer.