I don’t agree with everything at the Technology Liberation Front but its usually thought-provoking, and another good example comes in this piece DRM as Central Planning. An interesting idea- that the kind of top down command and control architectures Media and Technology companies are building with their elaborate DRM Alhambras – (head nod to Adam Bosworth, we have DRM Astronauts, not just Architecture Astronauts).
What are the implications for the enterprise? If you think you can succesfully run your business as a top down fiefdom, a command and control structure, then by all means encumber all your documents and files with DRM. But if you want to enable your employees to innovate then a little more freedom might not be such a bad thing. That’s the thing with command and control – its inefficient and so bound to fail in the long run.
Dino Chiesa says:
January 8, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Communism has failed as a system for big government, but it hasn’t failed outright. Look inside every house in my neighborhood and you will see it. Look inside many volunteer organizations and you will see it. It succeeds in some places, at smaller scales. and surprisingly, communism thrives in many communities or organizations based in the USA, the bastion of unmitigated capitalism. DRM is similar. It will deliver benefits in some cases. in many cases the over-arching tendency should be toward openness and less restriction, but not in every case. in those cases, DRM fills the need.