"DRM advocates getting nervous about consumer backlash"
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2007/09/drm-advocates-ge...
At a conference convened by the overlords of DRM, Sony vice president Scott Smyers admits that he circumvents the copy protection on DVDs (CSS) in order to make backups for personal use. Apparently Mr. Smyers doesn't agree with Hollywood or the Register of Copyrights, both of which argue that "backups" can readily be had in the form of new copies you can buy at the store. The corporate hypocrisy is obvious: what the corporate parent demands (DRM that prevents DVD copying), even its own employee disregards. We can't blame him.
That’s not the context of Macrovision’s response. It’s not that Apple “excluded” DRM from the iPod. The real history.
2001- Apple did introduce the iPod with no DRM in 2001 but it made it hard to copy music from it.
2003 - When Apple introduce the music store, it added DRM support to the iPod, but for the time, and easy built in way to circumvent it - burn the music to a CD and re-rip
2007 pt. 1 - Every digital music store was struggling because their DRM wasn’t compatible with the iPod. The music industry wanted Apple to license FairPlay. Apple refused and Jobs posted his “Thoughts on Music” letter on Apple’s front page where he said instead of licensing FairPlay, if the music industry allowed all digital music sellers to sell DRM free music, they would have cross platform compatibility.
The Macrovision letter was in response to this.
To make the new discs more palatable, Adam Sexton of Macrovision Corp., which makes copy-protection technology for music and movies, says they should be loaded with extras, such as live recordings or music videos. Consumers should expect to receive more when they put the disc into a computer, not less, said Sexton, a marketing vice president.
https://web.archive.org/web/20030920055153/https://www.mcall...
That's what I've come up with by digging into old mentions on sites, in HN discussions, and Google Books. Actual benefits discussion is very hard to find, and criticisms began quite early.
The McCalls article was linked from TechDirt:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20030911/0217252.shtml
Update:
There's also Macrovision's response to Steve Jobs, following Apple's decision to exclude DRM from the iPod (arguably a major factor in the latter's popularity, and path-paving for the iPhone):
DRM increases not decreases consumer value -- I believe that most piracy occurs because the technology available today has not yet been widely deployed to make DRM-protected legitimate content as easily accessible and convenient as unprotected illegitimate content is to consumers. The solution is to accelerate the deployment of convenient DRM-protected distribution channels—not to abandon them. Without a reasonable, consistent and transparent DRM we will only delay consumers in receiving premium content in the home, in the way they want it. For example, DRM is uniquely suitable for metering usage rights, so that consumers who don't want to own content, such as a movie, can "rent" it. Similarly, consumers who want to consume content on only a single device can pay less than those who want to use it across all of their entertainment areas – vacation homes, cars, different devices and remotely. Abandoning DRM now will unnecessarily doom all consumers to a "one size fits all" situation that will increase costs for many of them.
-- Frank Amaroso, Macrovision CEO
(Excerpted from the longer source.)
https://web.archive.org/web/20070306004546/macrovision.com/c...