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Originally Posted by Martian
In terms of DRM, it's theoretically possible with ogg, which is an open source format, so anything is theoretically possible. I didn't think it was possible with mp3 or flac, but I've never tried so I can't say for sure.
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Any format can be DRM'd if it's open or the IP owner will license it. Wrap encryption and key management around the data stream and be willing to require new players. In the case of MP3 Fraunhofer has licensed several companies for years. (Remember Liquid Audio?) They've even done their own version. The reason mutant-mp3 hasn't been popular is that it's no longer the wide-open mp3 everyone loves, so you need new players (or at least decoders). It also carries their significant license overhead. ~$.75/minimum per decoder just for the patent. ~$1.50 if you use their libraries. Add your own development costs for DRM and now it's serious for what's still mp3 quality (or lack of).
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DRM is just a bad idea and possibly in violation of copyright laws (if I've paid for the music I own the right to maintain and copy it for personal use, which DRM largely prevents).
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As for legality, fair use is being swept under the carpet with new IP laws. DMCA effectively subverts fair use by making copying technologies illegal, even if the "technology" does no more than flip a bit (e.g. Macrovision). So far the laws (written by IP owners) have withstood court tests. Hopefully the pendulum will swing back in time.
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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
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