Week 6: Clear/Digital Rights Management

Digital rights management, or DRM for short, is a very controversial subject.  I had no idea how controversial it was until I started doing some research for this week's blog post.  By definition, DRM is a generic term used for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to limit the usage of digital content and devices.  There are many companies and artists who use DRM to protect their rights to their songs, movies, ect.  While this does prevent some illegal distribution of their products, it does not prevent all.  DRM also has some ramifications which some may claim to be completely unfair to the purchaser of the product.

There are many reasons why DRM is so controversial.  One of the main reasons people oppose DRM is because the song, movie, or whatever the purchased item may be, can only be played on the one device to which it is downloaded.  So, for example, if I downloaded a song onto my computer that was protected by DRM, my computer is the only place that I would be able to listen to that song.  I would not be allowed to transfer it to my MP3 player, Ipod, or any other device.  This seems unfair to many, because even though the money was spent for the product, it is only attainable in one place.  In some ways DRM may even encourage illegal downloading, just for this reason. 

Many individuals and companies have spoken out in opposition of DRM.  Some opponents statements include "DRM is an example of a malicious feature - a feature designed to hurt the user of the software, and therefore, its something for which there can never be toleration."  "If you can't figure out how to afford it without charging, you may be doing something wrong."  Major opponents of DRM even include Bill Gates, who addressed the topic of DRM in 2006.  He stated in his speech that "DRM is not where it should be, and causes problems for legitimate consumers while trying to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate users." 

Upon my reading of the numerous opponents of DRM, it is obvious that it has a long way to go before it can find a balance which keeps both the manufacturers and consumers happy.  There are ways around DRM, an analog hole being one example.  Asus, which is a multinational computer product manufacturer centered in Taiwan, released a soundcard which features a function called "Analog Loopback Transformation," to bypass the restrictions of DRM.  This feature allows the user to record DRM-restricted audio via the soundcards built in analog I/O connection.  Despite these techniques, I believe that there are people out there who may not be comfortable with these methods of bypassing DRM, but who do, however, want these restrictions removed from their purchases.  It just may be that the average honest consumer of these products are being harmed the most.  

Website cited:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#Controversy