Digital Rights Management

I was sitting in an Italian movie theater waiting for the show to start. The lights dimmed, parents shushed their kids, and teenagers giggled and played with the lighted screens of their cell phones. A community service announcement played before the main feature. Were they warning citizens against the dangers of drunk driving? Child abuse? Second hand smoke? Nope, it was a warning about the punishment that awaited criminals who downloaded free music from the internet. Larger than life black letters on red flashed across the screen, showing an astronomic fine and jail sentence for anyone who dared illegally download music.

My husband burst out laughing. It was more embarrassing than going to the movies with a kid who has to pee before the opening credits.

Why did he laugh? Because we'd never met anyone in the country who had legally purchased a song online. Everyone illegally downloaded ripped music. We asked an audiophile Italian friend how to repair one of our scratched CDs and he couldn't understand our problem- why not just download the songs from the damaged CD for free, then burn a new CD?

I don't mean to be rough on Italians- many other nationalities- including Americans- steal from artists, record companies, movie studios, and publishers by downloading illegally uploaded content. Honest folks like me pay for each and every one of their eBooks, digital audio and video files, and games. I don't mind paying for something I want to read or listen to- but I do mind DRM.

Digital Rights Management cripples digital content so that the publisher, movie studio, or record company dictate how I can use it. When I pay for my content, it comes shackled with a DRM- which means the eBook I can read on my Palm may not work on my husband's pocket PC. The song I bought from iTunes will work on my computer or on an iPod, but it will not play on an MP3 player not manufactured by Apple. I may burn the song onto a CD- but only for a limited number of times.

That's right- people who illegally pirate music can burn it to a CD, listen to it on their iPod, on their MP3 player, listen to it on their computer, and do whatever the heck they want with it. But since I paid for it fair and square, I have restricted use of my purchase. Does that sound fair to you?

Probably not- and the Free Software Foundation, consumer advocacy groups, and many artists don't think it's fair, either. Before we're too hard on the big bad entertainment industry, we should remember they're like overweight, out of shape old men who've gone red in the face trying to jog up the hill of technology. They know they need to keep up with the trends, but they're worried about losing money in the process. They are terrified someone to whom they sell a copy of a song, or a book, will put it up online and distribute it FOR FREE (shudder, possible heart failure).

Hmm. That seems to be happening anyway, doesn't it?

The reality is, that DRM makes the digital entertainment we buy harder and less fun to use. It restricts how we enjoy it. It punishes the people who are honest and does nothing to halt dishonesty.

If you think this is a small issue- think again. Norway, France, Germany, and Denmark are bucking against Apple's iTunes store. Their objection? The DRM. European consumer advocacy groups complain Apple's DRM is creating a monopoly for its iPod brand of music player. And, um, that's exactly what Apple's DRM is doing.

Science fiction writers like Cory Doctorow explore the role DRM may play in our future. For now, I'd just like to listen to my favorite Cibo Matto song when I'm out and about with my Palm.