Monday, August 13, 2007

Google's code of conduct runs afoul of DRM

A Wired article from 2003:

Most major companies refer to a detailed code of corporate conduct when considering such policy decisions. General Electric devotes 15 pages on its Web site to an integrity policy. Nortel's site has 34 pages of guidelines. Google's code of conduct can be boiled down to a mere three words: Don't be evil.
More recently, in BoingBoing:
Google Video robs customers of the videos they "own"

Samuel sez, "Hey guys. Several months ago, I bought an episode of Star Trek on Google Video, just out of curiosity to see how it worked. Today I got an email letting me know my videos would stop working in five days."
If you "own" any of these videos, take a look, and follow the link at the bottom to Google Video DRM: Why is Hollywood more important than customers?

They tell us that downloaded video is the wave of the future. DRM is the dead hand of the past. (I see a hand, waving me on; but it's a dead hand on a stick, held by a predator, luring me into ambush! Yikes, I better stop now. "When mixed metaphors go bad.") Seriously though, the whole computer/software business has been troubled by ridiculous, barely-legal EULAs and things like the the DMCA for all its short life. Downloadable video that expires? Bad, but par for the course.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well written article.