Paul M - it was in the early summer that activation thing was fixed.
Interesting that mine has just broken then. I'm going to boot into it now and try to reactivate over the net. If that doesn't work I'm wiping it, because frankly I'm not paying to call MS for the priviledge of activating a legal system that spontaneously de-activated -- how long will it be before it happens again?
WPA/WGA deter more than accidental copying. Yes, you or I could (temporarily) work round it, but the majority of people couldn't. It also stops the small PC shops putting copies on rather than proper licenced one (a massive problem before XP SP1). They don't dare now knowing the next set of updates will break it.
Yes, like CSS on DVD, or the already part broken AACS used on Blu Ray, it won't stop people who know what they are doing, will will stop the majority of the population.
But for most of these issues it only takes one person to break it, and the copies are all restriction free. This creates the crazy scenario where you can go down a market stall and spend £3 on a dodgy DVD that is otherwise identical to the £15 original, but has no artificial restrictions. Same goes for pirate games with their region protection on consoles or "no CD" cracks on PCs -- the copyright holders are actually driving potential customers, who are willing to pay for the product, to illegal sources so that they can get a better version without the artificial restrictions. And to be quite honest although I don't condone it, I have absolutely no sympathy for them. DRM is about exerting control beyond what fair use allows, not preventing copyright infringement.
Apple make their money on hardware. As its now possible to mostly run OSX on non mac hardware, its only a matter of time before Apple start implementing similar - too many people will illegally use it if its easy enough, even at the low price. The broadband revolution has given the 'techie' types a mentally that they shouldn't have to pay for anything.
This has gone on since long before the broadband revolution, that has just made it easier. I remember when I was a kid and one of my mate's dad brought home the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 install disks from his work to put onto the home PC. Then it evolved to CD-ROMs for PCs and Playstations, people I knew in school would go to dodgy Sunday markets to buy copied CDs from shifty looking guys. I never owned a Playstation (or a PC back then) so I don't know if region locking was an issue but I wouldn't be surprised -- can't get the game you want because it's import only and won't work on your machine? Easy just buy a pirate version it works worldwide :-/
I think a lot of people are more than willing to pay for copyrighted works if the price is reasonable and they are offered reasonable fair use rights. The latter is where DRM and the like falls over, I simply refuse to buy (or even accept for free in promotions like Continental offered iTunes downloads when I booked flights) any DRM'd music as it hugely infringes on the fair use rights you get when you buy a CD. I'm seeing a similar issue with Windows these days when Microsoft believe it's OK to regularly check your PC just to make sure you haven't switched your licensed copy of Windows for an illegal one. "If you're not doing anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about" is the usual argument -- so on that point it should be OK for MI5 to install security cameras in everyone's house to make sure you're not assembling bombs or whatever... Step too far IMO.
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Topic: I still think that Vista sux. (Read 5023 times)