I discovered that, ironically,
Libraries are giving a great deal of support to
DRM.
In ancient history libraries were invented to share knowledge and help people learn. The information is all stored in physical books, so the solution is to
borrow/lend them for periods of time.
Today, given widespread usage of the internet, we have "digital libraries" that lend "e-books" (computer files that have all the text of a book stored inside them) as well as audiobooks. What should strike you as very strange is that these are
lent out: Digital information isn't physical, so it doesn't have to be lended. Every time you send a file over the internet it is copied: It's not like handing a book to someone because you still have it.
The old paradigms that make sense for physical objects are being mistakenly carried over to digital information. You might think "Well OK whatever it's just a basic mistake, easy to fix right?". In fact the reality of the situation is not that simple, it's not a technical blunder that someone made. Something much more sinister is happening. Let me explain a bit about how you "lend" a digital file first,
Normally when a file is sent from one computer to another it is read using a program. The situation with "lending" "ebooks" is the same: but the file format is intentionally obfuscated and/or encrypted so that it can only be read by a specific program: one created by the government or the library or whoever is lending you this book. This program that lets you read the file is closed off so that you cannot see how it works or what it does. Furthermore, it is programmed to stop cooperating with you (stop letting you read the file, maybe even erasing it completely) after a set time.
Now you see that it's not a simple technical blunder: someone must have worked very hard to design and program such a system intentionally. Why would they do this? The first reason is probably Copyright: In our capitalist society, where everything is exploited for profit. There will be someone restricting the distribution and usage of information. The second reason is that controlling bodies are often happy to procure more control. Forcing widespread use of programs which are closed off and do not cooperate with the user (but perhaps do cooperate with the libraries or other controlling bodies) is an extremely powerful way to get a grip on the masses.
This is a step towards
computers as jails. The machines controlling us, rather than helping us. Things like the iPhone and iPad are a big step in this direction, you're not allowed to write new programs for them yourself, let alone share what you've made to help your friends. You can expect less and less technological freedom until we spend our lives caring pandering to the needs of robots if you support DRM.