Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Introduction

The copyrights interests of many software and entertainment companies are now threatened by peer-to-peer networks, web streaming programs, and other file sharing and copying technologies.  These technologies have inherent advantages with respect to distribution costs, and making files accessible to a large number of people.  They have inherent disadvantages, mainly concerning the ease of unauthorized copying and sharing.  In order to both capitalize on the advantages of file sharing and copying technologies and circumvent the disadvantages, many content producers have turned to DRM technologies.

Fundamentally, DRM deals with the relationship between three distinct entities.

User – Who is using the content?

Content – What is it?

Usage Rights – In what ways is the user allowed to utilize the content?

Examples

RealNetworks and Rhapsody are both streaming music services.  The user is the subscriber and the content is the song.  The usage rights are defined so that the user may stream the songs, but may not save the files permanently.  The DRM software utilized by the streaming services ensures that the usage rights are enforced, by making it difficult for the user to recover the streamed file in its entirety.

MovieLink and CinemaNow are streaming video services (similar to Netflix).  They use DRM to allow subscribers to make one DVD copy of some of the older films in their collections.  They also use DRM to enable “time-loaded downloads”.  To view a time-loaded download, the subscriber must open the file within a specified time period after downloading it.  The usage rights, therefore, are time bound.

Conclusion

As we can see from the above examples, DRM focuses on limiting the usage rights of content users.  This approach can be contrasted with traditional copyright measures, which attempt to completely block any attempts to copy or share content.  Looking toward the future, we will see if DRM can meet the challenge of protecting the right of consumers to fair use, while simultaneously protecting the copy rights of content producers.

References

Layton, Julia. "How Digital Rights Management Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct 2011. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm.htm.

Ginsburg, Jane. "The Pros and Cons of Strengthening Intellectual Property Protection: Technological Protection Measures and Section 1201 of the US Copyright Act." Columbia Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. (2007): n. page. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. <http://lsr.nellco.org/columbia_pllt/07137>.

Koyle, Karen. "The Technology of Rights: Digital Rights Management." 2003. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. http://www.kcoyle.net/drm_basics1.html.