Reader question: Why is DRM evil?

After my post yesterday, Sanford wrote in to ask me why I think DRM is evil.  He seemed to think I was being a
bit too hyperbolic in my previous post's discussion. 
Sanford pointed out that we have lived in a rights-managed world for a while now, and was curious why this particular form of rights management raises my hackles so.  As the topic is one that I feel strongly about, I thought I'd share my reply to Sanford (slightly edited for prime-time) with the rest of you:

One of my main problems with DRM is the after-sale changeability of it.  This is what my post yesterday was about.  I purchase a file with certain advertised functionality for $.99, but then a year later, the person who sold me that file can suddenly limit the functionality without compensating me for the shift.  It's not really inconveniencing me specifically right now, but it is one of those things that I think, left unchecked, could be bad for consumers down the road.

My other problem with DRM is that it interferes with fair use ideas that have been in place for a while.  For example, I can buy a book.  Then I can read the book and either lend it to a friend, donate it to the library, or sell it without breaking any laws. That's my right as owner of the physical book (while still not owning the content /
copyrights to the book).  DRM (like that included in the music I purchase from iTunes) prevents me from reselling a song I've purchased to someone else, from donating it to the library, or from lending it to a friend. That's infringing on my fair use rights and it is a real problem with DRM.

Supposedly the DRM is there to protect against illegal abuse of the content of these files, but anyone who does abuse that content already knows how to circumnavigate the DRM, so the only thing it is really doing is inconveniencing the user and infringing upon fair use rights.

For more reading on this topic, I recommend googling

"DRM and Cory Doctorow".  Cory works for EFF.org, blogs over at
BoingBoing.net, and has several good talks and documents he's written on why DRM
is bad for everyone involved.