The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has compiled a list of DRM-free content and software sources but the way they displayed in their Defective by design campaign site isn’t exactly optimal.
So, to make your life easier, here are the most useful links from their list and you’re welcome to share your own findings (by simply leaving a comment)…
I would’ve also added eMusic but their customer service is sooo bad that I’m not interested in sending you there. They offer DRM-free music but everything else is a pain to deal with.
Take back your rights and fight DRM by choosing where you get your digital goods. Send the DRM-lovers a strong signal that their digital prison isn’t what you’re in the market for.
Also, keep in mind that independent artists and publishers in your area might be making some excellent content so don’t forget to help them too, as long as they don’t DRM their stuff.
If you’re part of the millions of people who produce content online, you know it can be a lot of work.
It way more than just typing text in a blog, it’s…
…and depending on how the web publisher is setup, it can be more or less work but in all cases, there’s always a certain amount of time and money involved (yes, money — computers aren’t free).
So it’s only normal that web publishers will so happily ad Google’s AdSense publicity zones within their content, to get back a bit of their investment. In both 2007 and 2008, the pay-per-click model was awesome, with revenues streams a serious web publisher could very well live with.
But around February of 2009, things went very wrong with AdSense’s eCPM levels which were tanking, even though the visitor count was going up and the general quality of the web properties was better than ever.
Some think it’s the recession, others think the reasons are less well known (and probably not known at all) but almost all web publishers have felt the drop, with varying intensity.
So the free content came under attack from a general lack of funding.
Some web publishers have simply closed shop and taken their content with them. Others have kept the content available only to paying customers while others are still praying for Google AdSense revenues to go back up again, with apparently no success at all.
Many AdSense publishers go to the forums to complain about the rock-bottom level of eCPMs but Google isn’t responding. The Mountain View giant is acting like as if everything was fine and dandy. You can ask Google what’s going on but all you’ll get is a type of canned answer that if, as a web publisher, you place your ads differently, your revenues will go back up — which is a very debatable premise.
It’s not that surprising that so many web publishers are frustrated with the ridiculously low Google AdSense revenues and they’re basically forced to invent new way to make up for the spectacular pay-per-click revenue nosedive. One of the ways to make money is to charge for access to the content, through a paid-membership model.
That’s ok with lots of people who can afford the membership but one site at the time, the internet is transforming into a constellation of gated communities. By all means, that can’t be good for anyone.
As Google AdSense is continuing to show lower and lower eCPMs, as if that was even possible, web publishers are accelerating the migration towards a wide array of membership models but they’re all paid. Google had the perfect model for the web, with AdSense. Sadly, it’s not working anymore.
Sure, Google AdSense is still up and running but if you can make a living off a few pennies or bucks a day, you’re awfully lucky but most serious web publishers can’t and that’s why 2009 might be the start of the end, for free web sites.
The people behind all the ad blockers, like AdBlock Plus thought they were really smart to block web publishers’ advertising.
After all, by blocking the ads, the surfing is slightly faster and there are no ads left to even see.
So what’s wrong with that?
Nothing, really, apart that an ad-blocking user is basically stealing the web publishers’ content by not accepting the usually mildly visible ads. In fact, the user can surf however he or she wants.
But over time, the Google AdSense or other types of advertising can’t perform, at all.
And at some point, the web publisher can’t pay his bills anymore — so instead of shutting down the web site, he or she considers other revenue-generating methods, like paid-memberships. Yes, the old newspaper and cable TV model where you pay a fee to access content.
Things were going perfectly fine with the pay-per-click ads model until millions of smart-ass web users started to block all the ads and that has significantly contributed to the current shift back to paid memberships. I know, it’s a shame to have to go back to that “pay me or nothing” model.
So what are users to do?
For starters, get rid of those ad-blockers.
The more people see the pay-per-click ads, the more valid clicks will occur and the web publishers will have enough revenue to drop the paid-membership obligations.
People are going mad everywhere about the prospect of Facebook, MySpace, NetLog and Twitter going to the paid membership model but they have to realize that the obsession with “not seeing ads” of a large percentage of them is the very cause for it. There should be a ban against all ad-blocking software because as they stand, they doing way more harm than good.
If all significant web sites turn to paid membership accompanied by insignificant teaser bits and pieces of information, people will just drop out of the internet because it’ll become locked up, everywhere.
Since nobody wants that, web publishers absolutely need to be supported by ads, not memberships!
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