Today’s links “If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing”: When Big Content makes the paid version *worse* than the free one. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2018, 2022. Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading “If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing” (permalink) 20 years ago, I got in a (friendly) public spat with Chris Anderson, who was then the editor in chief of Wired. I’d publicly noted my disappointment with glowing Wired reviews of DRM-encumbered digital devices, prompting Anderson to call me unrealistic for expecting the magazine to condemn gadgets for their DRM: https://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/2004/12/is_drm_evil.html I replied in public, telling him that he’d misunderstood. This wasn’t an issue of ideological purity – it was about good reviewing practice. Wired was telling readers to buy a product because it had features x, y and z, but at any time in the future, without warning, without recourse, the vendor could switch off any of those features: https://memex.craphound.com/2004/12/29/cory-responds-to-wired-editor-on-drm/ I proposed that all Wired endorsements for DRM-encumbered products should come with this disclaimer: WARNING: THIS DEVICE’S FEATURES ARE SUBJECT TO REVOCATION WITHOUT NOTICE, ACCORDING TO TERMS SET OUT IN SECRET NEGOTIATIONS. YOUR INVESTMENT IS CONTINGENT ON THE GOODWILL OF THE WORLD’S MOST PARANOID, TECHNOPHOBIC ENTERTAINMENT EXECS. THIS DEVICE AND DEVICES LIKE IT ARE TYPICALLY USED TO CHARGE YOU FOR THINGS YOU USED TO GET FOR FREE — BE SURE TO FACTOR IN THE PRICE OF BUYING ALL YOUR MEDIA OVER AND OVER AGAIN….Pluralistic: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" (08 Dec 2023)