Ed Felton reports:

Had the industry embraced the Internet early and added MP3 sales to its already DRM-free CDA (Compact Disc Audio format) sales, they would not have reached this sad point. Now, they have to overcome history, their own pride, and years of their own rhetoric.

How is music and movies different from books? Well, its easier to copy, for sure. But, really, the copyright law is applied the same way. You don't see people checking books out from the library, photocopying them, and returning them. Either you trust the public, or you don't. I think getting rid of DRM won't be a bad thing really, and might entice more people to buy music since its an implicit trust relationship (the current model is far from trustworthy, really).