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This is the problem with DRM: It is a pain for honest customers, while not preventing people who copy things.

If you want customers to pay for your thing you just need to make paying for it easier, more straightforward and more reliable than pirating it. As of now the only way they try to reach that goal is by making pirating harder.

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I mostly agree, however DRM does stop laypeople from directly pirating, they have to rely on technical people to do the ripping or cracking, and also find out where to procure those copies.

The optimal DRM is something that prevents theft by lay people, but minimally inconveniences legal users. I think a good example would be how you can't just copy PS2 games with a CD burner and play them on an unmodified console.

This is reasonably accurate. Circumventing DRM is mildly complex enough that it requires someone with technical skill to do it. This means the knowledge around it gets centralized first, then disseminated to the public at large. Once that happens it gives the legal someone to threaten or litigate against, thus validating their presence within the company.

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