What is the Value of a Bit?

Question: What’s the value of a bit? It seems that going after folks who have traded songs or movies online is a huge expenditure of effort and money. Is DRM-protected content the way to go? If you don’t agree, propose another method for the distribution of digital multimedia so that content creators can still be compensated.

Answer: I believe that DRM is not the way to go, not because of the apparent controversy involved that has probably been stirred up by the thieves themselves, but because it is much like the algorithm-type software that encrypts DVDS - it is useless in the large scheme of things and will only continue to be hacked. Additionally, the excessive, costly, and intense law suits that pretty much everyone in the world has a terribly negative attitude about need to be gotten rid of. They often attack the wrong people - the people that steal hardly anything compared to the big guns - and make the content providers who are trying to recover damages look foolish. The RIAA, the Recording Industry Association of America, a coalition of these content providers that takes care of the industries in an attempt to curb this problem, will end these lawsuits and has begun to work with ISPs to fix this detrimental problem. This new step will hopefully lead to the RIAA attacking the right people - the huge, costly offenders - and get compensated for this stealing more often and efficiently and allow them to take adequate steps in the correct direction by working with those who have the best ability to help them and take control of this current situation (the ISPs).