Quote Originally Posted by jocko_nc
If I pay for something, I feel it is mine, digital or otherwise. PC software used to be that way, but the greed of others, particularly some specific others in the Redmond WA area, changed all that. It used to be that your software came with source disks that you owned, like a book, music, or any other copyrighted product. Come whatever, you could always reinstall or take your software with you. However, a proper business monopoly could not allow that arrangement to last, way too much control in the hands of the consumer. Enter: Constant "upgrades" and revisions. Incompatability. Operating systems married to particular motherboards and hard drives. Bundling. Bungling. "Restore Disks" that won't restore anything. Antitrust. Bugs. Backdoors. Flaws. Hacks. A myriad of sneaky ways to take control of what you thought was your computer. You paid for it all right, you just don't own it. "Your" software is a license-to-use only to the extent and only in the manner determined by the copyright holder. When they are done with you, you are done. Best of all, this software arrangement results in having to replace a computer long before any of the hardware is worn out or obsolete. It's a boon to the industry but a catastrophe to the consumer. You get a new machine every two years because the suite of software it came with is squirrely. It's cheaper that way.
Isn't this exactly what is happening to music. It is being turned from an owned product to a rented one. Little by little all forms of entertainment will become rented and your choices made for you.

In the software industry, the only alternative is open-source software a concept born in the 70's, that is now also coming under attack for being forced to accept DRM. Fortunately there are still enough people who will fight this. I think we need open-source music & movies. I'm not talking about public radio and TV stuffed with adds every five minutes, either. Artists from musicians to Hollywood directors should be encouraged to publish some part of their work to the open source community.

Maybe this is old news, is there already a music & movie open source project like there is for software?