If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Lovely... So where do we go from here?

With a little understanding of the history, laws, and powers behind DRM, it's not hard to see that it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Anti-copy sentiment and legal action have been around since the dawn of consumer duplication equipment, and the organizations that wield these rather crude tools haven't changed their tune in over 20 years.

So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. DVD Jon has gone to work writing DRM now, instead of breaking it. And the EFF has been lying low for a little while in the area of DRM. Why?

Standards. Johansen's company DoubleTwist Ventures has reverse engineered Apple's FairPlay and rewritten almost the exact same code. And this time, he's pretty sure he's got the legal ground to stand on if the lawsuits start to fly. Apple's iTunes Music Store, love it or hate it, is the best store out for the legal purchase of music downloads. By unlocking the FairPlay DRM, Johansen will be able to sell the protection to other media player companies, or even develop an open-source version for 'Nix.

If the patchwork and mishmash of failed DRMs get brushed away and everything falls under FairPlay, a standard will be set for all media and players to live by. Though it's not a perfect solution as it is written, FairPlay is well considered to be the most generous DRM out in the market - especially when you consider the amount of content that is protected under it. If the model then needed to be changed, the standard is already set - small tweaks would be easily able to propagate out to the consumer level with no inconvenience.

Most importantly, with standards a consumer would be able to choose the device that he or she wants to use. DRM wouldn't be one tenth the inconvenience if you could go buy any player, and be able to put any song on it that you legally purchased. Without all of the format wars, in-fighting and lawsuits, a consumer would be left with options - a solution that revolves around the convenience of the sucker with the dough.