Dec

5

A proud Aussie tradition

December 5, 2007 | 2 Comments | Joshua Gans

This made me think of lots of stuff from our DVD region code to our highly regulated ‘free’ television episode guides …

In 1923, radio was introduced to Australia, complete with a scheme for “analog rights management” that presaged the dumbest anti-copying/anti-use schemes of the modern day. In the early years of Aussie radio, the radios were sold permanently tuned to a single frequency, sealed shut to prevent their owners from changing the channel. Each broadcaster had its own model of radio that it sold to the public, one that could only receive its programmes, and this was how the stations made money. The system lasted less than two years and was a complete failure.

Would that our modern day equivalents last so short a time. [Here is some more.]


Comments

2 Responses to “A proud Aussie tradition”

  1. aaron schiff on December 5th, 2007 7:54 pm

    That’s really interesting. Although I think it’s not quite correct to call it ‘rights management’ – it seems more like a story of the benefits of compatibility versus incompatibility, rather than DRM. Of course DRM can be used as a tool to achieve incompatibility but it doesn’t have to be that way.

    I mean it’s one thing to say that anyone should be able to sell songs that use Apple’s DRM system, but it’s another thing to say that songs shouldn’t have DRM at all.

  2. Matt Canavan on December 7th, 2007 8:53 pm

    How is this plan any different than the encryption used by payTV channels? You have to buy specific equipment that is locked to a particular broadcaster and this system seems to have worked well in many countries so I don’t think there are any general lessons here.