urbanists.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
We're a server for people who like bikes, transit, and walkable cities. Let's get to know each other!

Server stats:

565
active users

#defectivebydesign

2 posts2 participants0 posts today

New blogpost: "DRM: Digital Restrictions Management Damages Reading Magic"

There was an interesting discussion on the fediverse last night about DRM (digital restrictions management, a form of copy protection designed to limit how you can read the books you buy) and ebooks.

My thoughts about DRM, paying authors, and how, while I very much dislike DRM on the books I want to buy, I can see why an author might be concerned about someone asking how to buy their books without it.

neilzone.co.uk/2025/04/drm-dig

Photo of me, a white man with a short dark beard, and dark hair, smiling at the camera, while sitting in front of a vintage terminal with green text on the screen.
neilzone.co.ukDRM: Digital Restrictions Management Damages Reading Magic
More from Neil Brown
Replied in thread

@markd @revk @nowster @jasonkarns @jjcelery In other words, it is economy problem, not a tech problem.
There is no financial incentive to do it in a proper way, and in fact, there is financial incentive to do it sloppy, so user will be forced to buy another "better" version later.

So the solution is also economical - refuse to buy (and lobby others to refuse to buy) #IoT which are #DefectiveByDesign. If your IoT was #FOSS, you and other hobbyist would add that, as incentive is there.