Digital Rights Management: What it is, How it Works, and Its Effect on Consumers

What is DRM?

Digital rights management, also known as DRM, is a type of technology that is used to prevent piracy of music, videos, video games or any other form of media that can be passed around and shared through the internet. Copyright laws are set in place to discourage the act of piracy and sharing but it is not practical to arrest every person who has ever downloaded or shared a single file. Instead, DRM helps to prevent the initial sharing. Some examples of DRM include blocking the forwarding of important emails, including software on DVDs that limits the number of copies that can be made, or encrypting a CD with files that prevent sharing.  

How Does DRM Work?

                DRM is a form of prevention. There are many types of DRM and each one works in its own way to keep people from sharing media such as music and videos. Microsoft has included one form of DRM in their products that requires the user/purchaser to register the product within an allotted period of time. If the product is not registered it will cease to run properly. The product may also only be registered on a certain number of devices which also prevents users from sharing.

                Biodegradable discs are a more modern version of DRM. As an alternative to DVD rentals some companies have created a new way to watch movies. A single purchase allows you to buy the DVD but once the packaging is open, the user has only about 3 days to watch the film before the DVD begins to decompose and becomes un-viewable.

How DRM is affecting consumers:

                As a media consumer, DRM means deciding between spending more money or spending time finding accessible downloads and files. There are many sites that offer the option of copying and pasting a Youtube link into a site and then the site returns just the audio file to you which can then be downloaded. While this does give you access to many files, it is time consuming and the quality of the file is not always great. The other option is to spend the money and actually purchased the album or DVD. As a college student with little money, this is the least appealing option.  With the addition of sites such as Spotify and Hulu that allow you to watch full length movies and listen to music for free, the change of a consumer spending money on those same pieces of media has greatly decreased.