DRM Proponent Hurt By Bad DRM Implementation!!

Michael Gartenberg writes,about his frustration in not being able to get support from Microsoft and how he had to circumvent things to get the solution that he wanted. ichael writes,"while I'm still waiting for MSFT support to help me get back into the content I purchased for MS Reader (so far two emails and a rather fun 45 minute session with MS Tech support by phone, which is totally clueless about Reader. I was sent to Office support, Windows Activation and even though I kept telling them that there's no product activation code for Windows, my words fell on deaf ears). I finally took matters into my own hands. With a little help from a lovely free program called Amber LIT conversion, I was able to take all my MSFT .lit files and convert them to unprotected .PDF files for Tablet viewing and Word files that converted easily to eReader format. Took about a minute for each book. The program works with protected .LIT files but needs to be run on a machine with an activated and valid MS Reader. Since my old computer did have Reader on it, the process was a snap. This doesn't excuse MSFT". While DRM is a necessary evil, the notion of not being able to de-activate an older machine with a limited number of installs is user hostile at worst. Good case study for firms on HOW NOT TO IMPLEMENT DRM solutions. This raises the point whether this should be seen as DRM violation and suggests perhaps that this would be a wrong case to pursue given the fact the vendor did not support despite asking for technical support.