Microsoft recently announced a shutdown of its DRM servers supporting the closed MSN music service.  For those not familiar, MSN music was a music service associated with Windows Media Player, much like iTunes music store is associated with, well, iTunes.  MSN music, however, provided all content with DRM, digital rights management, which meant every song you bought had to have a serial number to play, and that serial number comes from the DRM servers soon to be turned off.  Users who have a music collection purchased from MSN stand to lose it when licenses can no longer be accessed.  So, if you spent money on MSN music, what exactly did you get?

The answer is simple, you got nothing.  DRM is only a way to enforce ownership of the product by the seller.  It's a way to keep you from owning anything, and under any sales model it is wrong.  If I buy something, I own it.  That is the rule of the transaction, cash for merchandise, and even in a subscription model, the insertion of mechanism to revert or enforce ownership by any party other than the customer is wrong.

Mainstream entertainment is coming to grips with this reality, but adult entertainment has known it for years.  If I subscribe to an adult website, I can download content from and store it on my computer, look at it or play it whenever I want, even after the subscription is canceled or expires.  My own site, FigureBaby is no different.  Members are free to download the content, either as individual images or in zip files, and own it.  I even offer print ready files if you (goodness forbid!) want to print anything to hang on the wall, or look at on paper.  I firmly believe you bought it, therefore you own it.

The overriding problem is a confusion of ownership and rights.  This is where DRM comes from, the idea that you can own something, but not be a responsible owner.  It stands to reason if I don't trust a person, that person will prove himself less than trustworthy, while the converse is also true.  And at this point, who doesn't know it's not proper to resell the fruits of creative labor?  I trust FigureBaby members with unrestricted access to  to my creative content, every artist should, because it's a compliment to me that my site member is interested enough in what I do to help subsidize it by buying a membership.  Wanna download content?  Go for it.  Wanna show them to your friends?  Rock on.  I'm not going to look over your shoulder and approve the way you enjoy my work, and I'm not going to take it all back in two years because it no longer profits me to let you have it.  I'm not Microsoft.

One of the big challenges for me is lighting a small space, especially when the space is a small room with bright white walls. My preference is for big soft light, which I haven't found very friendly to small spaces. So, to avoid the problem, I chose not to light very much at all. I set up a table lamp by the side of the bed, and shot ambient at a high ISO for warm grainy pictures. What emerged was a much more erotic sequence then either Brandy or I had planned, but it works. The story is a simple personal moment, but if you look at the whole sequence you notice Brandy drawing away from the camera and into herself. I recommend this one.

I recently finished some redesign work on FigureBaby trying to add more features to the tour and member's area. In the free preview, there was no real connection with the work inside, just a few pictures and words that didn't really explain what FigureBaby offers or is about. I removed the existing samples and replaced them with small preview galleries of the most recent updates. I also added a magazine style cover for each gallery. I'm not sure how I feel about these; the web is not a print medium, but I like the creativity they can show. I chose to use them only for the most current update on the preview page, then to represent each gallery in the sample page. In the member's area there are now 2400px images, our highest resolution, but only available in the most recent galleries. I'll add back updates in 2400 as I get to it, but they are not all there yet. Also in the member's area I've added a few print ready images for those who like prints. I picked a few images I'd print, and added them on their own page so you can download and print them as large as you wish. The picture today is Krisha. She is new to the site, and there are some great updates coming. Keep an eye out for more!