Nothing is without consequence. By now our generation has welcomed the beginning of the digital media age. It started with the humble compact disk and now we have seen the birth of the mighty Blue Ray Disk with its massif file storage capability and not to mention the breathtaking beauty that Blue Ray Video disks bring.

However digital media’s nemesis is the world of piracy. It was for this reason that companies decided to create the copy protected software that is impregnated in almost every Video, Audio and Data disk known on the market today.

Yet the copy protection code also made it impossible to convert your legal copy to work on other devices like your mobile media player. It is at this point that one realise the damaging effect of piracy. We no longer have the freedom to create a backup disk for use while we store the original in a safe place.

Also when one look at our Proudly South African Potholes a simple CD or DVD will not last a week in a car simply because it would be to damaged to be used and this is a los of up to R300 depending how expensive your music taste really is. Some music CD’s and DVD’s can set you back even more.

Now some companies started to introduce USB and SD card slots to their sound systems thus you do not need to place a valuable collector’s edition disk at risk. Sadly one can only utilise these technologies with the CD’s and DVD’s that allows you to encode there content to a recognisable format for your sound system or mobile entertainment unit.

Thus the industry became self-defeating and millions of honest people end up purchasing there disk over and over again because they got damage by defective players or perhaps the dog is on a CD, DVD chewing frenzy.

Yet only the industry is being protected by laws. To my limited knowledge I cannot think of one politician or company that is protesting the user’s right to backup their property for private use only. Perhaps these rights also must be reviewed and placed under the magnifying class.

Sadly one can understand why CD and DVD retailers don’t care about our rights. If they do show leniency the world of piracy will step in and rape whatever device or system is implemented to aid the honest user.

This might look like a stalemate but the alternative is both profitable and will basically kill piracy. If Video, Audio and Data disk are to be made as cheaply as possible and is allowed to be sold cheaply not only will more people be inclined to purchase originals. The respective companies may even see a big profit boost in these much needed times. Lastly piracy will become pointless and will die out.

What is your opinion?