Will 2006 be a new beginning or more of the same?

A little bit like for the Oscars, it seems that the best of the year always comes for last. In the case of the DRM, I think the highlight of the year has to be the Sony DRM snafu, which clearly outshined the lost of Grokster. In any event, I wonder where that leaves us for 2006.

Some, like Michael Geist, have suggested that this story could be a starting point for real "rights", but I wonder if that will be the case.

For this to happen, I think something really worse has to happen. I don't think we have hit the bottom of the barrel yet. Clearly, the DRM train is still running full steam ahead.

I believe that the Apple vs. Music Owners current discussion might be the thing that really lead to some balance. If you think that it took a decision like Sony Betamax to give us home videos, maybe it takes one where a big technology maker is pitted against large media companies to come to an acceptable compromise.

Is DRM a fact of life? Probably... Are DRM solutions settled on? Absolutely not.

Stay tuned for 2006.

Filed under DRM