Ever since I managed to convert my iRiver portable music player from a MTP device to a UMS device, I have been using my own linux laptop to rip CDs and put them on the device. Lately, however, my computer broke down, and I, being tired of the current music assortment on my player (I tend to get lazy and stay with the same songs until they start getting on my nerves). Due to that, I found myself, for the first time since my player became a UMS device, using Windows Media Player to rip my CDs.

One of the interesting thing about modern information companies is their love-hate with their own customers. On one hand, they want their information to be bought (or “licensed”), but on the other hand, they want to control its use so that they can milk as much money from it as they can. Thus, the RIAA, MPAA and BSA playing “good cop, bad cop” with the record company, one of them outright abusing information consumers, while the other one pretends to be nice and secretly sneaks malware into their media.

The most interesting thing about the issue is how they manage the PR disaster DRM can be. Some of them just lie outright; some of them take leaves from the white house’s book, giving their right-restricting initiatives positive names; the most interesting of ideas, however, is Microsoft’s. While the others try to hide what thier programs do, Microsoft puts on DRM a spin of the type that wouldn’t disgrace Saddam’s (or Bush’s) government during wartime.

As I was saying, this was the first time in quite a while I used Windows Media Player to rip my CDs, and the player, in its infinite wisdom and generosity, offered me to use DRM to protect the content on the CD from illegal sharing.

Do’h! I don’t believe that I could have used content unprotected from my choice to share it! I mean, it’s so insecure to be able to choose what to do with your music! Obviously, I have to protect me from myself!

After a bit of consideration, however, I decided to decline, mainly since I don’t know if the iRiver, after having been modified by Linux hippie commies like myself, would even supports Microsoft gracious security offerings.