Digital Rights Management, or DRM for short, has long been a hassle for the consumers of digital downloads. Since there are so many DRM’s, the file you might have downloaded on iTunes won’t work on you Zune, you Zune/URGE files won’t play on iTunes, and then who knows what will play on your Creative mp3 player. And then, when your DRM provider goes down (e.g. MSN, Yahoo), all your music will be rendered completely useless. This has led to consumers getting fed up with downloading their music and not having control over it, so some turn to pirating. Since this completely defeats the purpose of having DRM in the first place, media outlets are being forced to turn to a new alternative.
So, movie studios, record labels, ISPs, and major technology companies are meeting to try and make a new domain based DRM. This idea gives the user full control of their download, but only within their own “domain.” This “domain” includes the user’s computers, mp3 players, TV, video game console, or whatever else can play media files in the house. The only time the DRM would be involved is when the music is transferred over the internet or onto a foreign device. Then the DRM would become enacted and prevent the user from transmitting his/her files over the internet or onto that other device. While this idea for a DRM has potential, it is unlikely that all the providers of media, internet companies, and device companies will all band together and accept this new idea.
In the current discussions mentioned in the article, some very big names are absent from the discussions. Apple, Samsung, Dell, and Disney are all absent from the discussions, with Apple being the company that has the most digital downloads currently and the most devices that play these files. The absence of Apple could lead to the whole idea falling apart because even if the new DRM comes out, users have already invested into Apple’s DRM and would be unlikely to change. And with the iPod completely dominating the mp3 player market (you know its dominating when you don’t even assume what type of product someone has, if it plays music and you haven’t seen it, it’s an iPod), it seems like bad business for Apple to go the other way. Even if all of the companies come on board with this, there is still the problem of enforcing it. The technological advances required for this kind of DRM to happen in a completely efficient way are unlikely in the near future, but it is still an attainable goal in the long run.
Still, the whole DRM mess still seems unfair to the consumer and will probably further alienate consumers in the future, so maybe it would be in the interest of the companies providing this content to drop the DRMs and get users back on their side once again. But the idea presented in the article could work if executed correctly and if all of the companies step up and buy into the idea. Also, some consumers might understand that if they have it it’s theirs, but they can’t give it to anyone else. Obviously, there are some who won’t, but the RIAA has lawsuits for that.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/09/drm-sony-dece-a.html?cid=130475582
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2 comments:
It is unfair to the consumer.
One day they will wake up and deliver a reasonable pricing model that doesn't treat their customers like criminals. They have had nearly two decades to come to grips with online music, yet they are still flailing around clueless. Anyway, it will probably fail; criminals will find a way to get around it.
The labels need to stop trying to figure out how to make DRM better, and focus on how to make it gone. DRM is dead for one simple reason: people are smarter now. At one time people may have been ignorant enough to let someone else control their music, but now just the word "DRM" has such negative connotations that freedom from digital restrictions has become a primary selling point. Domain-based or not, anytime consumers are given the choice between "new and improved DRM" and "no DRM," they will choose none. Consumers are smart enough to remove DRM, to buy music without DRM, and they're smarter than ever when it comes to downloading music illegally. The labels need to start thinking as hard as consumers do, and come up with some practical incentives. They can start by trying to give consumers more of what they want, instead of giving them less of what they don't want.
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