The DRM Battle

The other day, someone on Slashdot commented that there had been a lot of posts on Digital Rights Management (DRM) recently. Well there have been and there will continue to be DRM posts because Intellectual Property Rights have become a huge issue caused by technology advances with computing and the Internet.

I have written about DRM frequently in the past and will continue to do so, as there is a lot to say. In the mean time, here is great quote that precisely expresses some of my feelings. It comes from Lifeline, the first published work by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein. It was written in 1939, some time before the RIAA even existed:

There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.