Speaking as an IT professional...

[The correct pronunciation of the ellipsis above is "derisory snort".]

...I subscribe to various online newsletters from Computerworld which link to articles on their website, where I see today that Experts debate: Is DRM good or bad for consumers?

DRM, which allows copyright holders to control how customers access content, could lead to new pricing models favorable to consumers, said James DeLong, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF), a conservative think tank. For example, instead of paying $30 for a new book, consumers may soon be able to pay $3 for a digital copy that lets them read it once, he said.

That would be the book that I can get from my public library for, uh, nothing? And read anywhere over the next three weeks? (Though if it's a new release I might have to pay, say, three dollars to have it for a week.)

Then there's the question of what "read it once" means. Can you flick back a couple of pages to refresh your memory of what Myrtle Knibb said to the butler when she found the razor blades in the guacamole? Silliness.

There was a time when booksellers tried to shut down libraries, in the 18th Century. We haven't come far at all.

P.S. When I cut-and-pasted the quote about, I didn't actually note the words "conservative think tank". Imagine my surprise.