Software Bullet Sought to Kill Musical “Piracy”

The NYTimes has an article about research that companies are doing into tougher antipiracy measures. I think the article was a fairly balanced view, whereas most of the discussion you find online is very heavily anti-RIAA. From the article:

Whether the record companies decide to unleash a tougher anti-piracy campaign has created a divide among some music executives concerned about finding a balance between stamping out piracy and infuriating its music-listening customers.

An important point here is that there are a lot of really crazy things under development, but the recording industry has (wisely) not opted to apply any of them. Don’t get me wrong: the recording industry is still not meeting the market demands… the more they head down the path of an “anti-piracy” approach, the farther they are from selling a product that is what consumers want. I think they’re still exploring their options for holding on to their current models. It will be interesting to see if the market gives them time to continue to explore or if something else shows up to usher in a new era.