Comment Number:	539814-00065
Received:	1/7/2009 7:29:51 PM
Organization:
Commenter:	Wade Burchette
State:	NC
Agency:	Federal Trade Commission
Rule:	FTC Town Hall to Address Digital Rights Management Technologies - Event Takes Place Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in Seattle
Attachments:

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Comments:

There is a simple immutable fact: DRM is ineffective. Any DRM scheme is always cracked. Always. Piracy is not affected by DRM, but innocent consumers are. We cannot make legal copies of our purchased product thanks to the DMCA. In my case, I have actually started to boycott companies who use restrictive DRM. I am not alone. Many have started to boycott these companies too. The only pro-consumer decision is to ban DRM in all forms. I realize video game, movie, and record companies will not agree. But they are use outmoded thinking. And their thinking starts by blaming everybody and everything except themselves. They will argue that DRM helps to stop piracy, but a quick look on the internet will prove how wrong they are. I am boycotting companies, such as Electronic Arts, who treat their consumers like dirt. I am boycotting any company that assumes I am criminal just waiting to steal. I am boycotting any company that assumes I am guilty until proven innocent. DRM is all those bad things. It is time to put individual rights over corporate rights. It is time to ban DRM.