So All in Favor of DRM…? *Crickets*

According to the textbook, Converging Media, DRM or Digital Rights Management is defined as “various technologies or security codes used to protect copyrighted works from being illegally downloaded,” (pg 115). It is found more common with online music downloads since this is where most of the illegal files are being distributed. This anti-piracy technology allows the copyright owners to control who gets to access their work. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 makes disabling a DRM system illegal in the United States, but no surprise that people find a way to sneak around it.

For downloaded music, DRM can restrict the types of devices that can play that particular song, the amount of time it can be played or limits the song in whatever way they choose. According to, Internet for Beginners, DRM has four common stages: packaging, distribution, license serving, and license acquisition. These stages all limit the access of, in this case, music and be able to lock and unlock files. The padlocks that prevent from using or copying a file are called “license encryption keys”.

Since DRM gets to decide how and when you can use their files, it basically means you don’t really “own” the file unless you pay for it. And even if you pay for it, like eBooks online through your kindle.. they can be deleted without your permission from Kindle or Amazon. There is a substantial amount of things we can download illegally from the internet now; music, movies, books, computer software, just about anything. We are now even able to download apps for free illegally THROUGH OUR IPHONES (if your phone is jailbroken). Take that DRM!