RIP DRM

The Register as two nails in the DRM coffin. The first is ad hoc wireless filesharing on mobile devices. People know about Napster, but there is also this thing called the Sneakernet that consists of people walking around and lending tapes and CDs to their buddies. Ad hoc wireless networking takes the Sneakernet and makes it bigger, faster, and more anonymous. And untracable. It is impossible to stop the Sneakernet, btw.

The second nail is flat-fee wireless distribution, which is similar, and to be honest I'm not sure what wireless has to do with it, but the argument is that it makes sense to price music at marginal cost because then you can sell bundled complementary goods around it, such as t-shirts or ovens or whatever. A very reasonable approach, but the logistics of a pooled license fee to pay all artists out of is not clear to me.