DRM - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Digital Rights Management or DRM is used to try and
deter piracy of copyright content such as digital files.
With the advent of the Internet, DRM has grown in
importance as manufacturers, publishers and copyright
holders scramble to control how people "install,
listen to, view and duplicate digital files" in order
to safeguard copyright property. As you can imagine,
the stakes are enormous and such piracy, these publishers
argue, will lead to lost profits and declining sales,
as well as hinder the whole creative process and the
quality of the media itself.

These stake holders believe only legitimate paying
customers should have access to their media. However,
many people feel this view is unfair and goes against
their civil liberties. Basically, by having any artist
or programmer decide how a file is used, means that
you as a consumer doesn't really own the content even
though you have purchased it. These are the two different
views that are fueling the debate on DRM.

This debate over digital rights is far from new,
since as far back as the early 20th century,
people were arguing over player piano rolls! In
more recent times, long before digital media was even
invented, you had the same debate with audio tape and
video tape recordings. However, now that the Internet
has made the transfer of digital media easy and
accessible anywhere; this debate has taken on a whole
new significance. Mainly because the web has opened
up the global mass-market, which has made copyright
owners especially concerned and which prompted them
to conceive of DRM.


What Exactly Is DRM & How Does It Work?


Digital Rights Management can take on many forms but
usually it can be broken down into four separate stages:

Packaging - where encryption keys can be built
into the software, music or movie files as part of your
DRM system.

Distribution - when DRM-encrypted files are
distributed to the customer, usually over web-server
downloads, with CDs/DVDs or with encrypted email files.

License-Serving - this is the process where you
have specialize servers to authenticate or give access
to only legitimate users/customers of your DRM files.

License Acquisition - where only legitimate
customers are given encryption keys to unlock the
purchased files.

A real early example of DRM was CSS (Content Scrambling System)
which was used to encode DVD movie files and prompting DVD makers
to create only systems that didn't include certain features.
Then in order to get the encryption key for CSS, the hardware
manufacturer had to agree NOT to include features such as
digital-out... in the process making copying any movie very
difficult to do.


And Now For The Bad & Ugly


However, where there is a will, there is a way... Jon
Lech Johansen, in 1999, created DeCSS to counteract CSS
by bypassing any DRM restrictions. Opening up a whole era
of illegal downloading and the virtual theft of copyright
material; while others argue this whole process is similar
to taping off or recording your favorite TV program and
passing it along to a friend.

In recent years, the whole discussion is continuing with
the advent of HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Likewise, another
security system was created to hold any would-be pirates
at bay, AACS which stands for Advance Access Content System
was created by a Licensing Administration, consisting of
some big brand name companies such as Disney, Microsoft,
Intel, Panasonic, IBM, Warner Brothers, Toshiba and Sony.
AACS is very similar to the previous CSS DRM system in that
it also uses encryption keys to limit access to the HD discs.
But it wasn't long before, just like the CCS system, process
keys began appearing on the web, letting the before mentioned,
would-be pirates access to AACS restricted content.

So far, ALL DRM systems that have been created can be bypassed
and this will probably hold true for future DRM systems as well.
However, there's one saving lifeline for all the companies involved,
usually there is a loss of quality in many of these bypass methods.
Since the main drawing card of buying a HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc
in the first place is because of the superior visual quality that
can be achieved; consumers may be turned off by pirated copies
if it doesn't give them the quality image they're seeking.

Furthermore, because of all these bypass methods, the media
industry is constantly looking for other DRM systems that can
protect their property. No doubt, the debate over all these
copyright issues will continue for a long time to come. And
just as likely, you can be assured where there are oceans,
there will be pirates and people who like pirates a whole lot.

...

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