I HATE DRM!

I'm not what one would call "technologically inclined" but I flatter myself enough to declare that I'm not technology impaired either. Still, my tech friends think it's so cute whenever I try to talk about things involving a slightly advanced understanding of technology. One thing that I do understand, however so slightly, is something called Digital Rights Management (DRM), or, as I like to call it, "the reason for all the suffering in the world."
Wikipedia defines DRM (gasp! Is he actually using Wikipedia as a source?) as: an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. Here's a more simple definition by yours truly: Greedy, rich execs trying to gain even more money than they have, which is already more than they deserve. People who try to share music on iTunes are probably very familiar with DRM and don't even know it. Have you ever tried to share a song with someone, only to find that when they try to play it, a little window pops up asking for the password to your Apple account? This is because, when you bought the song on iTunes, you also bought the DRM, which won't let you play this song on more than five computers, which means that only five people (including yourself) can have this particular song, and all those people need to get your password to play the song. This has been my downfall many a time while trying to share music with friends. Of course, Steve Jobs says that he doesn't want DRM, that it's in the hands of the record companies and there's nothing he can do about it. Should we believe him? It is true that some songs on iTunes are now available DRM-free, of course they cost more. Here's a better idea: go to Amazon.com. They sell mp3s too, often times cheaper than iTunes, and NO DRM!!! Spread the word!
My more recent scuffle with this crime against humanity came on Netflix.com when I tried to utilize the "Watch Instantly" option, that allows you to watch certain movies on Netflix right at your computer, without even having them delivered to you! Sounds like a good deal, except that when I clicked on the button, I found that the function isn't supported by Apple and therefore, I can't do it on my MacBook! When I read a bit more into the problem, imagine my surprise when I found out that DRM was to blame. So there you go, that's DRM, the most annoying thing that I found to bitch about today.