DRM is old and busted, according to BitTorrent cofounder

by admin September 23, 2006 at 10:05 am

BitTorrent cofounder Ashwin Navin believes that DRM is not the answer to legal online video services despite his company’s getting ready to launch its own DRM-based movie service in the near future. In an interview with IDG News Service, Navin said that he believes the only reason DRM is so widespread is that the industry is immature and doesn’t know how else to protect their profit margins.

Navin says that DRMed files are bad for both consumers and the content providers because “typically a DRM ties a user to one hardware platform,” citing iTunes for not allowing consumers to transfer purchases between platforms or hardware environments. TV and movie content providers don’t really want to limit users so strictly, he believes, because they want their content to be consumed by as many people on as many platforms as possible.

Full story: Ars Technica