[phro]

Again, not saying it's a great idea, just the first idea I had when considering the concerns the OP expressed.  Maybe you can address his concerns in a way that requires less effort?

[Mikkel Paulson]

I have, several times.

The actual licensing would ideally be removed and replaced with statutory rights.

1) It can be done much more simply. If it doesn't have a signature, it isn't legally binding. No more EULA. Done and done. They can make the user click all the buttons they want, but it won't have any effect on their legal position.

If the EULA has no legal effect, there will be no EULA. No need to overcomplicate things.

[phro]

Lookin at you now Sean, are we on the right track here?

[Concerned Citizen]

So we go back to proprietary interfaces. That's not DRM, right?

Only if they deny you access to your back-up and fair use rights which includes format/time shifting, etc...

[Mikkel Paulson]

But disk A doesn't fit into slot B or cable C into port D. Has the standard evolved or is it defective by design? The law can't decide.

[Concerned Citizen]

But disk A doesn't fit into slot B or cable C into port D. Has the standard evolved or is it defective by design? The law can't decide.

No but people can...  Disk a works with slot a, which works with cable a which works with port a... Now if there is something inside that prevents you from doing stuff like making a backup copy when you have everything that works to read/write stuff to disks that's DRM.

[Mikkel Paulson]

So the manufacturers would just "accidentally" introduce conflicting formats because it'd slip under the DRM radar.

[Concerned Citizen]

So the manufacturers would just "accidentally" introduce conflicting formats because it'd slip under the DRM radar.

If you introduce conflicting formats you end up with one format taking over... See VHS vs Betamax and HD-DVD vs Blu-ray.

[Mikkel Paulson]

Not if there's an economic advantage (DRM) to maintaining a conflicting format.

[Nuitari]

If something is being advertised as respecting a specific standard, then it must be able to be played on all players that follow that standard. If a Blu-Ray is playable in only a few Blu-Ray players, then it cannot claim to be of the Blu-Ray standard. This is part of basic consumer law in most countries as it relates to false advertising.