Tell HN: Complaining to companies DRM is not useless

Especially with the recent events where some repositories got DMCA'd for being DRM-bypass tools, I often see comments saying that no matter what you do, no single company will listen and try to go the DRM-free route if they were not on it from the start.

I just wanted to share at least one instance where a company went from DRM-heavy to DRM-free:

In France, we have a small streaming company that specializes in japanese animation, a market that is still plagued by piracy for historical reasons in the country. Even ones that could be watched for free legally are often pirated in order to avoid ads or waiting a week.

So quite obviously, when they decided to add a way to "buy" content, it was DRM-heavy. The files was linked to your computer and if the company closed, I assume they would not have provided a way to unlock them. They were even sending legal letters to those that shared DRM-broken files.

This is even less surprising seeing Japan loves DRM. However, after years of complaints, they actually listened. No idea how but they achieved making the japanese right-handers accept that they allow downloading DRM-free files for all their content against a one time fee of 1€/25 minute of content, including movies. The content is 1080p and with higher quality than the streamed version, and they link the purchase to your account so you could re-download the file if you erased it by mistake.

I know what applies to niches may not apply to bigger markets, but at least in some cases, boycott and complaints work if they are done in good faith. Want things to change ? Do your part. Not simply through petitions but by trying to make general public aware on social networks.