Video demonstration of anti-DRM group at SF Apple Store

The FSF hippies can go pound sand. As long as they keep up this sort of foolishness they are not going to win any converts at all.

Oh, and of course there are bigger, more important issues in the world. But does that mean we should ignore consumer's rights and freedom of speech until we pull out of Iraq? That's exactly what they want you to do. Jesus, you idiots.

For anyone that cares enough about this topic to have read this far, then I recommend reading Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. It's an easy read, and gets to the root of this whole situation. And though I agree with David to a certain extent, bloggers REALLY need to learn such things as substantiating their opinions (like he did later).

IMHO there are more significant issues going on in the World to protest. You can rip a CD to iTunes and it plays just fine, you can burn your ITMS purchases to CD and play it on your car CD player, rip it to Mp3... whatever you want to do with it... How does DRM really affect my day to day? Try none... DRM just does not concern me but I suppose it concerns some people and for that they protest. This is America you can protest what you want to I suppose but it really would make more sense to protest stuff that really matter in our day-to-day lives like our non-universal healthcare system and other such things. Just putting in my 2 cents.

Jon...it's not that hard and it's what I do. I don't shop iTMS and won't so long as their format is locked. I didn't own a DVD player for years for much the same thing. The whole argument of DRM protecting artist's rights that David points out is a straw man. Most importantly DRM violates everyones fair use rights.

I'm not sure why you think I'm throwing a tantrum or is that Slashdot is just too slow for you today?

Jay writes: "It allows no choice save the ones the manufacturer gives you. "

No choice? You have the choice of buying the product that suits your requirements, buying no product because none suit your requirements, or compromising and buying the product that comes closest to meeting your requirements.

Nobody's putting a gun to your head and forcing you to buy anything.

What you're doing is seeing that the product you want most doesn't meet your ideological needs, and throwing a tantrum to get what you want.

If you don't want DRM, don't buy products that use DRM, and do without the material that is covered with DRM. It's not that hard, it isn't like doing without food or water, it's just entertainment - a luxury good, one which you're not entitled to have as some human right.

sheeesh .....

Let's see ... genocide, nuclear proliferation, famine, tyranny, poverty, education, global warming, or DRM.

It's like complaining about dirty hand towels as the Titanic is going down.

David...you're still missing the point. DRM = bad. It allows no choice save the ones the manufacturer gives you. Apple is far from the smallest fish in terms of market share for it's iPod. They're as fair a target for anti-DRM protests as Microsoft is for Windows/IE security.

I'm not questioning that the iPod and iTunes are the better of the alternatives out there. They also advocate a very closed system in that you can only purchase your music from Apple, can only play it on their players and you cannot exercise your fair use rights without burning a CD. While the problem is one of shared responsibility between Apple and the record labels who demand DRM, Apple is a fair target for protests no matter how goofy they are.

To me it looked like the little construction dudes from Fraggle Rock were on strike.

This is a really intelligent conversation and there are several points I would like to respond to.

• David said:

"Do we, as consumers, have the right to demand to be able to do anything we want with everything we want?"

Obviously not. The whole idea is incredibly Western, and particularly spoiled brat American (and French). That is one of the reasons I am furious with the Free Software Foundation for being behind Defective by Design. FSF is supposed to be about DEMOCRATIZING the Internet. Instead, it is pouring money into an elitist campaign. I wonder if that organization has been bitten by the attention getting bug and no longer cares about its alleged purpose.

• I also take issue with the name of the campaign. In products liability law, a defective design occurs when a product fails to fulfill its intended use safely. For example, a space heater that does not automically turn off when it falls over is defective by design. The iPod, iTunes and DRM (it is unclear exactly what they are calling defective) are all well-designed and serve their intended use. The fact that some people don't like one or more of them does not mean there's a design problem with them.

• I also think the message being conveyed is false, particularly in the way it will be perceived. The man on the street who sees a bunch of folks in hazmat suits in front of an Apple store waving signs may think that there is a safey problem with an Apple product. Ask Megan the Mall Rat what the protest is about and she will say "Uh. You know. iPods are gonna blow up." I suspect Apple may be forced to respond to prevent such confusion if these protests grow.

It seems to me that whoever planned the Defective by Design protests lacked foresight.