Jeff Ayars, Vize-Präsident von RealNetworks, erklärte auf der LinuxWorldExpo in Boston „ganz uneigennützig“, dass Linux den Anschluss an den Consumer-Markt verliere, wenn keine DRM-Technologien eingebaut würden. Dies berichtet CNet: DRM key to Linux’s consumer success? Georg Greve, Präsident der Free Software Foundation Europe wird in dem Artikel mit einer Gegenmeinung zitiert, die ich sehr sympathisch finde:
„The Sony rootkit case made it quite clear why DRM is not accepted by consumers and why there is no successful business case for DRM,“ he said in an e‑mail. „Apple iTunes allows people to burn their tracks on regular CDs, which can then be re-encoded and file-shared easily–so is better described as ‚digital inconvenience management’ only. eMusic.com offers clean audio tracks without any restrictions. No DRM platform comes close to either of these in popularity.“
„So fortunately, it is up to the consumer to decide what the consumer market wants. And its answer is clear: It does not want DRM!“ he said. „The sooner we bury the foolish notion of putting each and every use of a computer under control of the media industry, the sooner we can start looking for real alternatives.“
Linspire und Novell scheinen dagegen nur darauf zu warten, DRM in ihre Distributionen einzubauen.