Good news for defenders of Fair Use Rights and others seeking a reprieve from the device-limiting effects of DRM-protected music and movie files -- a comprehensive report from The Guardian in the U.K. reveals that the removal of copyright protections from music tracks being sold through major online distributors has had no discernible affect on piracy.
The Guardian quotes a variety of industry insiders, including DRM specialist Bill Rosenplatt, President of GiantSteps Media technology Strategies, to confirm that recent studies and statistics show that there's been no uptick in piracy as a result of Apple, Amazon.com and others selling DRM-free music online.
"These statistics prove our assertion [along with many, many others] that DRM does nothing to prevent piracy, serving only to annoy and alienate legitimate consumers," says Digital Freedom, a coalition of groups, including the Consumer Electronics Association, working to defend and protect consumers rights in the fight against piracy. "This is an amazing finding, and one that will hopefully inform the record industry and digital music distribution services that while curbing piracy is a noble effort, DRM does not help achieve that goal and could in fact detract from it."
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