‘After Ditching Apple, NBC Opts for Flex Pricing and More DRM With Amazon’

Ken Fisher:

“Protecting content” is a tip of the hat to NBC’s concerns over DRM. Apple’s DRM policies are considered to be “too lax” by many players in the TV and movie business, because shows can be authorized for playback on as many as five devices. Furthermore, any given device can be authorized to play content purchased from five different accounts.

Compare Unbox: Shows bought from Unbox can be kept on two computers max, and can be stored on up to two different media players. Users cannot “mix” accounts, meaning that a PC cannot have authorized content purchased from two different accounts. As you can see, Unbox is far more restrictive.

This just shows how moronic these NBC clowns are. You don’t have to be a nerd or obsessive to see how these restrictions suck — they’re obvious. No mixing means you and your spouse can’t both buy material for each other’s use.

What’s surprising is that Amazon, a company that grew to prominence specifically because of their reputation for great customer service and experience, would go along with such odious restrictions. Here’s a simple rule of thumb: if an honest customer has to even think about the rules, your DRM system is odiously restrictive.

★ Tuesday, 4 September 2007