The funny thing about digital stuff is, it's not real. The screens and displays we view it on are real, and the actions we take to engage with it are all happening, but the actual digital stuff causing us to have a rollicking good time, is not really there at all.
It's like algebra. 'x' isn't really there either, it's not even a thing. It's a theory. Do a bunch of stuff, and 'x' is something. But it's not actually a 'something'. I can't take 'x' up the highstreet and hold up a shop with it, or throw it at a pensioner, or drink it and throw it up again.
Digital stuff materialises from code; a bunch of programmed equations - possibly algebra - assembled in such a way that interfaces are displayed, usability is present and graphics are created. Simple.
Well, not simple, but simple to grasp as a concept.
The problem with digital stuff not being real stuff is that even if it looks like a jet fighter, or a mile-wide spreadsheet, or 7000 inane photo albums of your cat, it isn't physically. It has no physical properties at all. It isn't heavy. It isn't awkward or cumbersome. It doesn't smell foul or run between your fingers.
It is therefore a very attractive prospect to thieves.
Piracy of digital content has been an issue for publishers, retailers and producers since day one. That's why measures are put in place to prevent cloning or theft of a digital product at code level. Ultimately, this is pointless as the people thieving the products do so by hacking said code and will, over time, crack any lock that stands in their way. Much with any evolutionary cycle, the code has to adapt to protect itself from those attacking it.
In a recent variant of evolution in the gaming industry, DRM (Digital Rights Management) has looked to prevent software being installed on multiple PCs in a bid to crack down on reselling, much to the disapproval of gamers who shop at discount outlets to buy their games second hand at much more pocket-friendly prices.
In the thick of the controversy at this year's Eurogamer Expo was my mate Best Friend Joe. Best Friend Joe was kind enough to grab hold of this propaganda-style T-shirt (designed in the same vein as some artwork I'd previously carried out for Samsung) urging people to "Join The NO DRM Revolution", which he then donated to my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE T-shirt challenge.
In my mind, the jury is still out about whether DRM is really all that bad. Don't get me wrong, I sure love a freebie, but I'd be unhappy to discover that some of my illustration or design work was being utilised by someone who hadn't paid for it.
Court unhappy.
