Digital rights management is the fairly innocuous-sounding term used by the various industries — particularly the music and film industries— to refer to any number of controls intended to limit what a consumer can do with media they purchase.
DRM is, to put it lightly, a complete disaster with regards consumer rights and the end-user experience when it comes to any sort of media. The stated purpose behind the existence of DRM is to prevent copyright infringement, especially with regards to digital copying and distribution of media. Unfortunately, DRM has little effect on the illegal copying of any sort of media, and instead severely inconveniences the legal end-user.
Why is DRM bad?
1. DRM forces consumers to buy the SAME CONTENT again and again.
Nothing new about this necessarily, When DVDS came out, the industry enticed consumers to buy DVD versions of their VHS films with promises of digitally remastered copies bundled with extra scenes and special features. With Blu-ray it’s largely the same situation — enticing people to purchase their films yet again with the promise of greatly improved image quality, among other things. Even on the same format, films are frequently re-released with minor changes to garner more sales (The Star Wars Trilogy has appeared in countless packages and with countless tweaks to the films themselves).
There isn’t anything wrong with any of this, because the consumer ultimately can make a choice regarding whether the new offerings are worth the price of another copy of the same film. DRM changes the equation. With DRM, the studios can sell many copies of the same content, not with any improvements, but simply available in different digital formats.
Example: You have a DVD of your favourite film, but you would really like to watch it on your iPod, or maybe you’re on the move a lot, and would love to take your DVD collection with you on a small portable hard drive (only slightly bigger than a single DVD, yet able to store hundreds of full-length films). Technologically speaking, the process is quite trivial. You can pop your DVD into your computer and use any number of programmes to save a digital copy In any number of formats. The only problem is, it’s illegal (In the United States). DVDs are all encrypted with a DRM scheme intended to prevent copying. The particular DRM in place on standard DVDs was successfully “cracked” years ago, and as such, many applications can easily bypass it. The film industry has aggressively pursued legal action against programmes that do this. Now, surely they must offer a legal, industry-approved way to enjoy the content you have already paid for on devices other than DVD players, right? Yes: You can buy a downloadable copy at the full retail price, assuming the particular film you want is available on an online store (only a tiny fraction of DVDs are). Full price! What a deal!
So, while you can in about a half-hour copy a film you own to your computer, the only way to do it without incurring the wrath of Hollywood is to let them sell you another copy of the exact same content. Thank you, DRM! Compare this with audio CDs. Being an older technology, CDs incorporate no DRM (most of them, anyway). As such, just about any music application can copy your music onto your computer in the format of your choice, add track information, and let you send it to any device you want to enjoy it on.
Now, even if you do purchase a downloadable copy of a film, the DRM hell doesn’t end there. Downloaded copies all incorporate their own systems of DRM, which will be different depending on where you download the film from. If you buy a movie from the iTunes Store, you’ll be able to play in on your PC, or on most devices Apple makes, but if you want to play it on any non-Apple devices, you’re out of luck — the DRM prevents you from converting the video to any other format (even though the process is trivial without DRM). This means you will have to purchase a THIRD copy of the film to use it on another type of device. If you replace your device with a different one, count on paying full price for another copy of the film. For example, Microsoft released a system called “Plays for Sure”, which was supposed to be a unified system of DRM that would operate on many different devices (that signed on with Microsoft). Shortly afterwards, Microsoft released their own Music player, the Zune. Plays for Sure DRMed music would NOT play on the Zune. People who had purchased Plays for Sure DRM-infested music were forced to buy another copy of all their songs if they wanted to play them on a Zune. Of course, non-DRMed music (such as that off CDs) would play fine on the Zune, and any other music player. Again, these are all completely arbitrary restrictions. Digital content without DRM restrictions can be quickly and easily format-shifted.
2. DRM Content has no Longevity.
Your VHS tapes and DVDs (very primitive DRM) will play as long as the media has not degraded too severely, and as long as you can find a device that can read them. It’s not forever, but they ought to work for a good long while, and if they do start to degrade, you can easily duplicate them or save them to a newer format. Not so with the next generation of DRM-protected content. As already discussed, you can forget about making backup copies of the films you own when they have DRM, but it gets much worse than that. Most modern DRM schemes use a “phone-home” scheme. When you try to play the content, it actually uses the internet to contact the company that sold it to you to verify that you have permission to play it. Some media does it every time you play, while others allow you to “activate” your content, which allows you to play it without an internet connection, but usually still requires you to periodically connect to the internet to check your activation (or the content is disabled) or requires you to check in to activate it again immediately if any changes to the device occur. Now, this will make you mad enough the next time you try to play a movie or song you’ve purchased in an area without internet access, and are refused permission, but it gets worse still. Since the media will not play without permission from the seller, it is not only dependent on the continued existence of that company, but also on their willingness to continue to maintain the computer systems and servers that control the DRM system. Basically, the company can pull the plug at any time, and all your purchased content will be rendered useless. This is not paranoia:
Google tried unsuccessfully to operate an online video store for some time. The service allowed users to buy and download TV episodes and movies. About a year and half ago, Google decided to shut down their movie store. They sent out an email to all customers informing them that any video that had purchased would no longer play once the store was shut down, as the DRM servers would also be deactivated. As compensation, Google offered users credit on their proprietary checkout system (usable with a small number of online retailers). Eventually, after an intensely negative reaction from users, Google gave full refunds to all users. Nice to get your money back, but you still lose your entire movie collection. Not cool.
This year, Microsoft announced the retirement of their “Plays for Sure” service. After the retirement, any music purchased from the service would be unplayable, as it would no longer be possible to activate it. Microsoft offered no refunds, suggesting that users should burn all their music to CDs before the shut down in order to continue to be able to play it (burning to CD is a loophole of sorts in certain music DRM. Since CD players do not support DRM, stores wishing to offer the user the ability to burn their music to a CD must also strip the DRM from the burned copy. This is one way to get a DRM-free copy of downloaded music. Unfortunately, doing this also reduces the quality of the Music, even more so if the user wishes to copy the DRM-free music back to their computer. This loophole does not exist for movies or TV shows). Following intense complaint, Microsoft decided to continue to operate their DRM servers for the next three years, representing a temporary reprieve but not a solution for people who had bought music from their service.
This year, Wal-Mart also announced the shut down of their DRM-infested music store, telling customers their music would no longer be playable after the shut down unless they burned it to a CD. Again, following public outcry, Wal-Mart reversed itself and said it would keep the servers running “for the present time.” Again, no permanent solution here, just a reprieve that may end at any time.
Even for music services (like iTunes) that are more successful than the examples above, it just amounts to a ticking clock. Eventually these stores will disappear or be replaced by newer, incompatible versions (As with both Wal-Mart and Microsoft). 20 years from now, the chances of any current DRM key servers still being active is just about nil, given the pace of technology. Compare this to the technology of yesterday. You can take a 50-year-old vinyl record, slam it on a new turntable, and it will play just fine (given allowances for degradation). You can say goodbye to any sort of longevity in this brave new digital world.
3. DRM will find countless other ways to piss you off.
Trust me.
Random example: Video from the iTunes Store:
Apple’s most recent laptops include both a new kind of video display connector (the Mini-DisplayPort, nothing wrong with this) and a nasty little DRM chip (bad). The DRM chip allows for what is known as a protected video path, in which video content can only be sent over wires and to devices that support a particular DRM scheme (HDCP). What this means in practical terms is that DRM-infested video will only play on HDCP-compliant devices that use the DisplayPort connector. Plenty of these, right? Actually, no, there’s this one , which Apple sells specifically for use with their new laptops, and that’s about it.
To put it simply, video you purchase from the iTunes Store will not play on any external display devices except the Apple monitor I mentioned above.* If you’re in the habit of using your laptop hooked up to an external display (as I do), you’ll have to unhook the display and go back to the little built-in screen to watch your video. Want to hook up your Mac to a nice wall projector, HDTV, or your nice big external monitor? The joke’s on you, suckers! Of course, if you have copies of these videos without DRM (i.e., you ripped them off your own DVDs or downloaded them illegally), they will play just fine on the new Macs with any devices you can physically hook the system to, just like video you OWN ought to.
Now, all this draconian DRM must surely be necessary to protect the music and film industries from rampant piracy, right? Now, I’m not going to say piracy isn’t a concern — the statistics given by the industries are probably bullshit, but billions of dollars worth of film piracy in one form or another does go on across the world. There is just one problem: DRM doesn’t affect pirates anywhere near as severely as paying customers. Inevitably, brilliant hackers manage to crack every DRM scheme the industry puts out in short order. DRM-free copies of videos are then quickly created and sent across the globe.
Pirates: Get to download high-quality, DRM-free copies of pretty much any movie which they can use on any devices they like and which they can keep forever.
Cost: $0
Paying consumers: Get to download DRM-infested copies of select movies, must buy separate copies for different devices, and may have their right to view their movie collection revoked at any time.
Cost: Depends on how many copies you need. At around $20 a copy, it can add up quickly.
In case I haven’t made myself clear, don’t buy DRM-infested content, you will regret it. For movies, this pretty much means sticking to DVDs, unfortunately. DVDs have DRM, but it is primitive and was cracked years ago. Bypassing it can easily be accomplished with a variety of free applications for both the Mac and Windows (hint: check out Handbrake). DVD DRM does not phone home. Basically, just buy DVDs and rip them yourself.
Fortunately, the scenario for music is a bit brighter. Consumer backlash against DRM-infested music has been extremely strong, often cited as one of the top annoyances and reasons people steer clear of online music stores. As a result, the music industry has backed off somewhat, and some music labels have allowed their content to be sold without DRM controls. I recommend the Amazon MP3 Store first and foremost. The entire content on the Amazon music store is available in the highly-compatible MP3 format and is 100% DRM-free. The iTunes Store is also acceptable, but make sure to only purchase tracks marked with the the “+” symbol. iTunes Plus tracks are encoded at twice the quality of other tracks and do not include DRM. Sadly, only a small portion of the iTunes catalog is currently available in + format. Wal-Mart’s (LINK) new Music store is also fully DRM-free and uses the MP3 format (yes, the same Wal-Mart that tried to screw over all its early customers who bought from the DRMed store).
It is extremely important that consumers voice their distaste for DRM. As demonstrated with the gradual opening of music only, the industry cannot completely ignore the voices of its customers. Complain directly to both stores offering DRM-infested content, and to the music and film labels that refuse to offer their content in DRM-free formats. Most importantly, refuse to buy any music or video in anything but a DRM-free format. Video is definitely the most important front is this battle. While their have been some advances in the availability of DRM-free music, video is going in the opposite direction. There is currently no commercial video from Hollywood available in DRM-free form online, and Blu Ray discs also make use of an advanced DRM system (although it has proved crackable, despite industry assurances that it would not be possible).
*Apple recently released a software update that allowed non-high-definition video to playback on other external displays. This is only a very slight improvement. It means if you pay extra for the high-definition copy, you’ll only be able to watch it on your small laptop screen, quite effectively negating the value of all those extra pixels that look so nice on a giant screen.
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