Thursday, February 10, 2011

pissed-off consumer

I'm feeling discriminated against as an Australian. I wanted to listen to Tobias Wolf's This Boys Life (a Year 12 book) as an audiobook, but I was not allowed to download the file as I have an Australian IP address. I wanted to watch the movie but when I finally legally borrowed a copy it was coded for another region. And I read this, this morning: http://delimiter.com.au/2011/02/10/no-touchpad-for-you-hp-tells-australia/ My friend Brian, something of a computer guru (being in IT), says, "I hate DRM". Even though he endeavours to buy legally (and happens to be a huge fan of print books) he points out how easy it is to download anything you want from the internet if you want it enough. Frustrating the consumer so obviously legitimizes piracy. As a consumer, my response to this frustration is to say bring on a global market where I can buy what I see and what I know other people can buy.

1 comment:

rachofwonder said...

That reminds me of something funny I saw the other day regarding a Rosetta Stone purchase:
http://9gag.com/gag/75905/
It is sad when even consumers with the best intentions end up pirating due to rules and regulations between countries.