DRM changes the rules
One of the problems that libraries will increasingly face as they accept digital content controlled by DRM (”digital rights management”) technologies is that these technologies allow content providers (e.g., publishers, distributors) to change the rules for access to that content at any time. Two recent articles address this issue and explain it. While Berlind does not like DRM and Ross does, both make essentially the same points about the technology. Interestingly, they also agree that one way to avoid having content controlled dynamically by the content provider is for the user (in our case, the library itself) to stop relying on online access and digital content that includes DRM locks that are updated online and rely instead on actual distribution of information that is not locked with DRM.
- Declaration of InDRMpendence, by David Berlind, Between the Lines, 9/30/2005
- Here’s a surefire way to stifle innovation, By Patrick Ross, CNET News.com, October 6, 2005
What you need to know is that DRM can be, and has proven to be, a Trojan horse. In a back and forth thread of e-mails, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s John Gilmore described to me how DRM technology basically allows those who sit at the controls of it to arbitrarily change the rules. For example, one day, with Apple’s iTunes, we were able to burn the same playlist as many as ten times. A day later, it was seven. Unlike before, when we could take our vinyl records and CDs and do pretty much anything we wanted with them (to facilitate our personal use) or even sell them (or will them to family members), the “R” in DRM is much less about what we have the right to do and more about the Restrictions that can be arbitrarily and remotely asserted over something we paid good money for. So far, the best suggestion I’ve heard to dodge the CRM bullet is seek used CDs. It may not be a la carte song buying. But it’s not a premium price for a bunch of music you may not want anyway.
Online music subscription services can experiment with the number of music players permitted, the number of computers allowed, whether the songs are “owned” or rented, etc., and can change those settings on the fly if market forces demand it. That’s far more difficult with physical media. The TPM (technical protection measures) being put into upcoming high-definition DVD formats, for example, likely will remain in place for years, if not for the entire duration of the format.