[betterunix2]

By my memory the web BECAME relevant before DRM, before streaming video sites, before media companies started pushing their DRM on us. Remember how in the late 90s media companies were ignoring the web? Remember how webmail, web search, and social networking websites were the killer apps that people flocked toward?

Media companies tried to ignore the web because it is the antithesis of their business model. The result was that the media companies became less relevant, because the web is better than cable TV, better than movie theaters, better than physical discs. We could and should have ignored EME and forced media companies to adapt or die, just like all those other outdated industries.

Media companies are not special cupcakes, they are just businesses and like any other business they have to contend with disruptive new technologies. Nobody shed a tear when the film processing industry faded away; nobody suggested that digital cameras should be restricted for Kodak's benefit. Why are we acting like Hollywood deserves such special treatment?