DRM, which stands for Digital Rights Management, is a term that describes the actions a person, usually producers, can take in order to protect their digital work from being distributed without prior authorization. In other words, without DRM, the music, movies etc of the world could be distributed to interested audiences only under copyright restrictions. Some of the most common places where one is likely to find DRM in use are DVDs, audio CDs and the Apple iTunes Music store. DVDs first started being protected in 1996 and these discs could only be played in devices selected by the DVD Forum; manufacturers had to sign an agreement with the Forum which subsequently enabled them to use certain features needed to play the discs in their devices. This practice ended in 1999 when a well known hacker called Jon Lech Johansen released the DeCSS software which allowed DVDs to be properly played on computers using Linux. Audio CD buyers had several problems with the DRM because not all accepted players could actually play the music and some CDs from Sony also contained a rootkit which, after playing the disc, made computers vulnerable to outside attacks. A few years and some lawsuits later, the DRM era on CDs ended in 2007, when EMI announced it would no longer publish discs with DRM. DRM is like copyright, but stronger and more restrictive, because it only allows files to be played on the devices that producers agree with. Although it may sound like a good deal for producers, it’s really the consumers that suffer with the use of the DRM system.
related story: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-drm.htm
| by Corina Ciubotaru for SigEx Telecom (http://sigex.com) |
SigEx Telecom is quickly becoming the leading telebroadcasting communications provider allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share video clips through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, websites, blogs, video-mails and SMS. SigEx Telecom captures many add-on services for its clients generating royalties and fees in a broad spectrum of marketing services including public relations and promotions.
