Hi
Well, DRM has several different meanings, but I'm going to assume
you're referring to Digital Rights Management. In a nutshell, DRM
refers to any scheme used to define what you can and can't do with
content you purchased in digital form. No two DRM's are entirely the
same, and some are much more of a hassle than others. iTunes, for
instance, uses a DRM system known as Fair Play 2. Basically, you may
authorize up to five computers at any one time to play protected
content, be it music, videos or audiobooks or whatever, that have been
purchased under a certain account. If you wish to authorize a sixth
machine you must deauthorize one of your five machines. Each iPod,
further, can have up to five accounts authorized on it (note that you
don't have to authorize or deauthorize an iPod, that is automatic). It
also limits burning more than seven copies of a specific playlist if
it has protected content, though really you can get around that by
simply changing the name of the playlist or recreating it. iTunes
Videos may not be burned to a regular video DVD under their DRM terms.
Audible's DRM is very similar to iTunes in concept, though you are
limited to three computers and three portable devices, such as an iPod.
There are, however, DRM systems that aren't very user-friendly. For
instance, many of the Windows Media DRM systems do not give you
control over what computers are authorized--if you try to play a song
it will authorize that computer, but if too many have been authorized
you cannot play it. Further, you have no control over authorizing and
deauthorizing, and if you've burned a certain track so many times to
CD it will prohibit you from burning that song to CD ever again. This
hit Yahoo's music store pretty hard, as when they went under all the
music people had purchased from them went down the drain as well. Not
all the Windows Media DRM systems are like this, but a fair number are.
DRM is contravercial in that some say it limits your fair use rights,
which in my opinion depends on the particular DRM used. I'm not
opposed to DRM in principal, but when clumsily implemented it only
hurts those who were honest and purchased their content. As with any
security measure, there are always those working hard to break it and
they usually succeed. I find iTunes DRM more than fair for the most
part, with the exception of not being able to burn a video DVD of
movies I purchased. Apple had to compromise, though, as while the
music industry is slowly realizing that DRM isn't always the answer,
the movie and TV industries are getting an even tighter grip on their
content.
Hope this helped and hope I didn't ramble on too much
On Nov 6, 2008, at 09:59, Dan Geise wrote:
sorry, another simple question, I think. what is D.R.M
thanks
dan
