The DRM Ponzi Event Horizon
Dorothea Salo,
Caveat Lector,
Jan 13, 2009
This is a very interesting thought. DRM systems involving registrars create an expense each time a resource is accessed, as the registration server must be consulted. Sustaining the cost of the registration server is possible so long as new sales are made. But if the catalogue of resources, and potential purchasers, is finite, then at a certain point, the new sales don't cover the old registry expenses, and the system collapses. This is a classic Ponzi scheme - the same sort of thing that caused the big wide global recession - and explains why a number of DRM registries have been collapsing recently. What's more important, it explains why, in most domains, all DRM registry systems will eventually collapse. At a certain point, no matter how much new content is being created, sales will be insufficient to cover expenses.
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