What is DRM and how does it limit my downloads?

Like every other kind of technology, DRM grows in complexity and tenacity on a daily basis. The sole purpose of DRM, or digital rights management, is to restrict your access of digital content. In basic terms, DRM puts limitations on how and where you can watch or listen to digital content. The idea is that when you pay $2 to watch a TV episode on iTunes, you are buying a single, personal license; you shouldn't be able to send it to your friend after you're done with it.

DRM originates from the need of copyright holders to retain some control over the digital distribution of their content. The makers of DRM systems are in an ongoing struggle with those who oppose DRM, such as software and movie pirates. Piracy, the illegal distribution of copyrighted work, has long been an issue — before bootleg DVDs, there were VHS tapes and music cassettes — but it wasn't until the last 10 years and the advent of high-speed internet access that DRM really became a necessity. In a world where a movie can be sent across the internet in a few minutes, publishers and rights holders are understandably very interested in DRM.

How DRM works
In general, almost every kind of DRM uses encryption, which basically takes a digital file and locks it so that only someone with the correct digital key can read it. A publisher takes a TV episode or movie and encrypts the entire thing; it can then only be played by people with the decryption key. When you buy that TV show from iTunes, you download the TV show and the key required to play it. If you try to play the show without the key — if you send the TV show to a friend, for example — it simply won't work.

That same key can also restrict how many times you can watch the TV show. In some cases — such as with movie rentals — DRM files can even be set up to "self destruct" after a certain number of days.

Keep in mind, no two DRM systems are the same. For example, a movie purchased in iTunes uses a different key to unlock the movie than one purchased off Amazon. You cannot use one vendor's key to open another's content. This also impacts device compatibility. If you purchase an ebook through Amazon, you will not be able to read it on your Barnes and Noble Nook or lend it to a Nook user.

What DRM impacts
So how do DRM systems impact you? Today, DVDs, ebooks, video games, TV, and streaming music and video content from the web are all protected with DRM. The impact depends on your level of regular media consumption.

For example, do you use iTunes to download music or TV shows, or Steam to download games? DRM can keep you from playing your music, movies, and games on other computers without logging in to the accounts that you purchased the content on.

The largest downside of DRM currently is the definitions of ownership. In most cases of purchasing DRM-protected content, you are actually purchasing an access license to the content, which raises the question of "who owns the content I just paid for?" For example, Amazon has access to remotely wipe your Kindle device at any time and has done so in the past when tackling pirated materials.

The future of DRM
Two billion people are already connected to the internet. Thanks to smartphones, which are nearly all connected to the internet, it won't be long until everyone is online — an exciting prospect, to be sure, but one which also enables the next generation in DRM: an internet-based virtual library of every digital work that you own. When you buy an album, your virtual library will be updated to say that you own it. When you buy a film, video game, or TV show, it will be slotted into your virtual library.

The idea is that you'll be able to log in on any device — your computer, your smartphone, your TV — and access anything in your virtual library, at any time. Your friends will be able to lend you movies, books, and music by transferring them from their virtual library to yours, and vice versa. This functionality already exists for the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Amazon Kindle. Just keep in mind, while you have items lent out to others, you are not able to access them, and while a friend has items lent out to you, that friend is not able to access those items.

DRM might be the epitome of convenience, but there are privacy implications. However, there has been a move toward less DRM on music in recent years, thanks to iTunes and the persistent work of anti-DRM advocates. Other kinds of digital content providers, like Barnes and Noble and Amazon mentioned above, currently remain with the DRM model. The final solution may be DRM, no DRM, a mix of both, or none of the above. Only time will tell.

[Image credit: miamiamia, Anonymous Account]

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