I've been on the receiving end of the unpleasant consequences of what happens when you use a device with a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. Never again! Auricle readers will know that I believe ultra-portable devices are becoming increasingly important vehicles for the distribution and consumption of learning resources. I like to get first hand experience of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The trouble is that the bad and the ugly can be hidden away only to spring out on you when you least expect it.
The device under the microscope today is the iRiver iFP-799, an MP3 player and recorder. I use this to listen to podcasts and other MP3s when walking to work. Now the stuff I listen to wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but it is totally legitimate. The quality of MP3 player side of things in the iFP-799 is pretty good but some of the models in this series have a defective recording chip which introduces unwanted white noise. I contacted the manufacturer who said they would be happy to fix this and so got ready to dispatch the offending device back to them. I had nearly 1GB of MP3 talk files on the device. No problem I thought I'll just transfer them to a PC … and that's when the terrible consequences of the iRiver's DRM hit home.
Sure, you can transfer MP3 files to the device but you can't transfer MP3 files from it. It's a one way journey.
Now think about this.
This device is making the assumption that all MP3 files are rights-protected music and so I've lost the right to do with my non-rights-protected data what I like. This wasn't much of an issue when the iFP799 was working because I listened and deleted but now that it's broken I've had my rights unilaterally terminated.
This matters, and matters a lot. Not just because I've been seriously inconvenienced on two accounts (faulty machine, no recovery of data possible) but because what right do the implementers of DRM system have to assume that a user's MP3 files are rights-protected? What future for user-generated/podsafe/share and attribute content if this type of scenario becomes all-pervasive?
Needless, to say, the iRiver is now definitely off my Christmas list. One of the key criteria from now on is no DRM system … no matter how good the specs are otherwise.
