OK, I am going to give all of you the biggest tip that I can offer after the AACS debacle. My opinion might surprise you, so brace yourself…

DRM is bad. Fine, maybe that wasn’t quite as surprising as I made it out to be. That not withstanding, DRM is an awful, useless chimera that is turning people who legally purchase products into criminals and leaving the real “crooks” to chuckle as they skirt the edges using any number of DRM workarounds. Thus, in typical How To Split An Atom fashion, I am going to provide you with a step by step guide to fighting DRM.

Step One: Educate Yourself

1. DRM — Wikipedia –The universes greatest source of information.
2. DRM Watch –A blog that follows DRM issues.

Search the blogosphere for information about DRM and find alternatives. Find out why it’s bad, and which companies are using it.

Step Two: Support The Troops

1. Defective By Design –They really, really hate DRM.
2. Free Culture –Freedom of information is good.
3. EFF –Broadly supports all free information activities

These folks are out there working in the government and working in the streets to bring an end to DRM. DRM, in most of its incarnations, violates fair use. If you purchase a product you have the right to make copies for personal use. That means that not allowing Joe Blow to transfer his favorite John Meyer album from his iPod to his Zune violates your rights as a consumer.

Join their mailing lists and if you are feeling particularly hostile — join their protests.

Step Three: Fight Back

1. We7 — DRM-Free music with Ads.
2. Grooveshark — Get paid to “pirate” music?

Download music but don’t be locked into iTunes or Amazon. The best way to make these powerful organizations understand the need to change is to purchase music from DRM-Free alternatives. Search the web, find your music, support your artists but don’t use DRM. If the RIAA, MPAA and AACS sense a real disturbance in their bottom line, it won’t be long before you see them take real action to adjust the way they conduct business.

One last thing. Keep DRM in perspective, it is terrible and does violate your rights as a consumer but it is not the end of the world. Unless, of course, you were planning to use that latest Jack Johnson album you purchased off of iTunes to stop world hunger.

[Disclosure -- I personally know the Grooveshark folks and have blogged about them before.]

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