The general consensus among consumers is that DRM sucks, and the often draconian measures used to prevent copyright infringement do very little, if anything, to prevent software piracy. The argument is that DRM only shackles the honest consumer, while pirates figure ways around the copyright schemes regardless. But could DRM also be giving otherwise law-abiding citizens cause to cross the legal line?

That’s exactly what DRM is doing, according to the first empirical study of its kind in the UK. In a new paper titled, "Technological accommodation of conflicts between freedom of expression and DRM: the first empirical assessment." Cambridge law professor Patricia Akester says she spent the last several years interviewing lecturers, end users, government officials, rights holders, and DRM developers to see what affect DRM was actually having.

In one example, Akester cited a situation in which a blind person who bought a legal electronic copy of the Bible from Amazon could not utilize text-to-speech. Amazon’s policy is not to refund eBooks once they’ve been downloaded, and the publisher proved little help. Seemingly out of options, Lynn Holdsworth, the individual in question, ended up tracking down an illegal copy without the text-to-speech limitation. Not exactly what one envisions as the typical pirate.

You can read Akester’s lengthy paper here, or view the shorter version here.

Steps To Remove Spyware

New Study: DRM Incites Piracy

(Please Bookmark this page and take a printout before performing the steps)(# If you are unable to run the given Spyware removal tools, please Rename the Spyware removal tools file name to iexplorer.exe while saving it and then run it)

1. Restart your computer. As your computer restarts but before Windows launches, tap "F8" key constantly. Use the arrow keys to highlight the "Safe Mode with Networking" option and then press ENTER.

2. Open Internet Explorer >> Click on Tools >> Click on Internet Options >> In the the Internet Options window click on the Connections tab >> Then click on the LAN settings button >> Now you will see Local Area Network (LAN) settings window >> Uncheck the checkbox labeled "Use a proxy server for your LAN" under the Proxy Server section and press OK.

3. Download and Run SmitfraudFix

# Run SmitfraudFix.exe and select the option 2 and follow the on screen instructions. Then select the option 5 and continue. Then Exit.

4. Download and Run Malwarebytes' AntiMalware.