Digital Right Management - "DRM"

Before taking this class, ISM 3004, I ignored many technical words that are relevant with our daily life, especially nowadays that we deal with multimedia at school and work. Multimedia has become an indispensable tool in our lives. It is always good to be updated about technology, and have some basic knowledge. Multimedia covers a lot of topics, and among its topic there was one that attracted my attentio, DRM.

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What is DRM?

Digital Rights Management, DRM, refers to any system that manages access to copyrighted material using technology resources. In other words, DRM restricts the free use and transfer of digital content; therefore the person in possession of digital content does not have any control over it. 

Examples: 

Image created by Ivette Franco, Copyright 2011

Image created by Ivette Franco, Copyright 2011

DRM is used…

DRM is used in different types of media, but is most frequently found in video and music consumer. The good new is we can remove DRM.

How can we remove DRM?

DRM can be removed through different software. Please see below a list of some free DRM removers:

-         Tunebite ( works with WMA, M4A, AA, M4B, M4P, WMV,  and M4V)

-         Aimersoft DRM Media Converter ( WMA, WAV, WMV, M4A, M4P, M4V, M4B, 3GP, AVI, ASF, MP4, MOV, FLV, MP3, AC3, OGG, APE )

-         Sound Taxi

 

DRM Disadvantges: 

Image 3

The major disadvantages about DRM are the several restrictions to the end user.For example,  if you buy music through your computer , you may want to be able to listen to it in you car while you are driving , or listen to it on another computer, but this may not be able to happen. Why? Because,  DRM,  most of times, is applied in a way that music can be listened through one computer only. 

You, also, may not be able to listen to the song you buy as many times as you want because it is restricted to be played a limited number of times. 

DRM Advantages:  

Online sellers are the most benefited.  DRM allows content owners to restrict the use of digital media. Besides, DRM permits content providers to keep the integrity of their copyrights.DRM is ideal to minimize piracy. 

Can we avoid DRM?

Yes, we do. If you dont want to be affected by any restriction of DRM, you can simply decide not to but any music, videos, or services that use DRM protection. 

Did you know....

Did you know that University of Florida was trying to use DRM in order to protect videos ( from the Business Program) ? Yes, they were trying to, but, so far, they have decided not to use DRM for the facility of students. 

Resources:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm1.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-drm.htm

http://www.mgtek.com/dopisp/support/kb.aspx?id=faqDRM

Image 3:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DRM_Is_Killing_Music.png