However, it's also worth noting that the music industry is the only major content industry where this has been achieved.

If anything, things are going the other way with video content. There have been stories this week about Netflix cracking down on those who are circumventing region locking using VPNs. It seems big name shows are increasingly being offered via proprietary pay-per-view systems run by their production organisations, and centralised libraries like Netflix are either not carrying the material or dropping content they used to offer. We still have different release dates for movies in theatres in different countries, and for films and TV shows on DVD/Blu-ray. A recent trend seems to be for US TV shows not to release new seasons on Blu-ray at all here in the UK, so you can buy the lower quality version on DVD or you have to sign up for yet another online service to watch in HD, assuming you even have access to such a service from where you live. All of these measures are overtly consumer-hostile, but there is little the consumer who enjoys TV and movies can do if the entire industry moves that way (short of resorting to illegal channels and risking the consequences, which obviously is what a lot of people do in practice).

The software industry is similarly screwed up. We've gone from buying a copy of something and being able to use it, to buying a copy but needing remote activation, to buying a copy but needing varying degrees of ongoing online access to continue using it, to not even being able to buy a copy and merely renting. Personally I draw the line before I get that far, and refuse to pay for any important software unless I can reasonably expect it to continue working indefinitely. Even then, my businesses have been screwed repeatedly by varying degrees of ongoing online access or cutting off support, and slightly surprisingly, the most expensive professional software is by far the worst for this and for fixing the mess is something goes wrong.

I really hope that before too long the law starts to reflect the real relationships with modern technologies, where the original vendor who would traditionally be the main second party in a purchase contract is effectively just providing an introduction to the real other party, which is the organisation that makes the software/service and is (or isn't) going to provide ongoing support and/or retain ongoing control over it. I also hope that smaller, disruptive software businesses who are starting to take on industry heavyweights can demonstrate that money talks and enough customers are willing to vote with their wallets for less one-sided arrangements. But for now, the possibility that industry heavyweights like Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk are going to give up their vice-like grips built on DRM and related technologies seems more remote than ever, and all of them are pushing hard in the opposite direction.