Steal This Comic
Steal This Comic
Black Hat: Thinking of buying from audible.com or iTunes? Black Hat: Remember, if you pirate something, it's yours for life.  You can take it anywhere and it will always work. [There is a flowchart whose paths are (You're a Criminal)<-Pirate<-(Buy or Pirate)->Buy->(Things Change)->(You Try to Recover Your Collection)->(You're a Criminal)] Black Hat: But if you buy DRM-locked media, and you ever switch operating systems or new technology comes along, your collection could be lost. Black Hat: And if you try to keep it, you'll be a criminal ( DMCA 1201 ). Black Hat: So remember: if you want a collection you can count on, PIRATE IT. Black Hat: Hey, you'll be a criminal either way. (If you don't like this, demand DRM-free files)

DRM , an acronym standing for Digital Rights Management, is a recent anti-piracy mechanism that is used to prevent unapproved or unintended use of software programs. Examples would be a requirement to play a video game while online (where the servers can validate that the game has not been hacked) or allowing only a limited amount of installations to ensure that different users are buying the program for themselves instead of sharing it. The problem is that there are ways that DRM can be restrictive even upon legal situations. Someone may simply want to play the game in an area where there is no Internet connection, or they may have exceeded the amount of allowed installs due to installation problems or hardware malfunctions requiring the purchase of new hardware. In the audio situation described in the comic, one could not, say, transfer an audiobook or song from an iPod to a Blackberry phone, because Apple does not allow files on its operating system to be used on ones from other companies. For this reason, DRM has also been referred to derisively as "Digital Restrictions Management" .
Black Hat uses a flow chart to propose two paths:
Since both situations have you end up being a criminal, Black Hat proposes taking the pirate path, which leaves you with a collection of dependable audio for free. In the title-text, Randall gives an anecdote of how ridiculous it was to obtain an audiobook legally, and how all of his other legally-obtained music has been lost, as the flow chart predicts.
In light of this, he proposes another option: demanding DRM-free files.
It's worth noting that there are other methods of listening to music legally that avoid the problems presented in the comic:
The title is a reference to the "Piracy is a Crime" ad campaign, as well as a 1970 pro-anarchy book called Steal This Book . There is also some underlying humour: since xkcd is under a Creative Commons license , you cannot "steal" the comic, since Randall specifically allowed the comic to be shared. It could also be a reference to Don't Download This Song , a "Weird Al" Yankovic song that amusingly deals with audio piracy.
A note on the site says that Amazon sells DRM-free music files. Since this comic was written, iTunes has also stopped using DRM on music, though it still protects apps, e-books, and videos.
This comic is not applicable to some countries, such as Canada, where copyright infringement is purely a civil matter and is not a criminal offense.
Black Hat: Thinking of buying from audible.com or iTunes? Black Hat: Remember, if you pirate something, it's yours for life.  You can take it anywhere and it will always work. [There is a flowchart whose paths are (You're a Criminal)<-Pirate<-(Buy or Pirate)->Buy->(Things Change)->(You Try to Recover Your Collection)->(You're a Criminal)] Black Hat: But if you buy DRM-locked media, and you ever switch operating systems or new technology comes along, your collection could be lost. Black Hat: And if you try to keep it, you'll be a criminal ( DMCA 1201 ). Black Hat: So remember: if you want a collection you can count on, PIRATE IT. Black Hat: Hey, you'll be a criminal either way. (If you don't like this, demand DRM-free files)
