Digital Rights Management; Media Doesn't Grow on Trees

DRM is what restricts you from utilizing digital content in ways the distributor wants to prohibit.

Digital technologies have a nearly infinite amount of possibilities associated with them. Music can be shared with millions via the internet, for example. Digital Rights Management is what makes most of this sharing illegal. Many cases have arisen in which an individual has downloaded thousands of songs, only to be sued by copyrighters for large sums of money. This is because DRM controls the distribution of music and what is done with these files. Digital rights management applies to many forms digital media, such as music and ebooks, and aims to prohibit pirating of this paid material.

How Does Digital Rights Management Operate?

Once a consumer has a particular file, such as music or ebooks, it may seem difficult for a company to monitor what they do with it. Digital Rights Managers have many ways of controlling what is done with this media. For example, many online textbooks are now available online for a price. What is to stop students from sharing this expensive book with others, leaving the distributor out to dry? This is where DRM comes in. Almost all online textbooks now come with an acess code, that when registering the book can only be used once. Once this code is used, nobody else can utilize it, as per the program design. Thus, paid online books cannot be passed through the internet. Similarly, music downloading through paid programs such as iTunes help demonstrate how DRM works. One person cannot simply buy a song and share it via the internet. Paid for songs can only exist within the users library who purchased it. This is an example of DRM prohibiting music sharing and altering the sales of music. Many products have binding agreements built in, such as online movies, explaining that the sharing of these files is punishable by law. Sites such as Limewire used to allow the free downloading of music with a peer-to-peer system. Click the link to see how Digital Rights Management has taken control of the situation.

DRM is Everywhere, And Probably Affects You

The days of free music downloading and sharing via programs like Limewire and Kazaam are quickly coming to an end, as Digital Rights Managers race to prohibit the sharing of media in ways that are not desired by the owners. More and more you will notice your online downloads being of a more secure nature, not to be shared with others on the web. Piracy of music, video, and other media are becoming more easily punishable by law. Downloading files on the web will remain as easy as 1-2-3, but what you do with these files is becoming much more limited.