Warner Waking Up?

It's taking a while, but maybe Warner Music is finally starting to get the hint. They didn't get it after Steve Jobs showed initial signs of comprehension, so we decided back in April that someone needed to initiate a follow-up conversation. We asked a few thousand of our friends to call their chief, Edgar Bronfman Jr., first thing in the morning.

Faced with the defective reality of DRM technology and its implications, even the most stubborn are going to have a very difficult time clinging to the sinking ship with so many people urging them to let go. Yesterday, Bronfman grudgingly admitted that whether DRM is appropriate for every business model is an "open question" -- a big change from his earlier statements that any business model without DRM is "completely without logic or merit."

Apparently the rules of logic have changed -- or maybe the very logical protests of his customers and the laudable actions of his competitors have made him reconsider the merit of a business model founded on intentionally selling defective products.

He's right that it's appropriate for some business models and not for others. Let's keep letting him know that it's wrong for ethical, responsible, and profitable business models, and right for short-sighted scam artists. Despite his bluster, it seems as though he might actually be listening.