ClearOne Digital Media - Manual (Page 26)

Defining DRM
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management and refers to a collection of systems used to
protect electronic media such as music, movies, images or any digital content where the
publisher wishes to ensure their data “bits” are not available to be freely swapped or shared
without proper compensation. DRM systems can vary widely but most frequently include
two primary pieces, encryption and access control.
Encryption as the name implies is designed to limit the free exchange of content so it cannot
be played outside the intended ecosystem, whereas access control is intended to limit the
number of plays or authorized devices available for playback. For example, Apple iTunes
uses a DRM system to limit the number of Apple devices iTunes files may be played on.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is important to publishers of electronic media to ensure
they receive the appropriate revenue. By controlling the trading, protection, and access to
digital media, DRM helps publishers limit the illegal propagation of copyrighted works and
maximize revenue in the case of premium “paid” content.
The history of DRM technologies extends well before digital or electronic media existed
where copyright holders, content producers, or other financially or artistically interested
parties had certain business and legal objections to copying technologies. As early as
the player piano rolls in the 20th century copying technology represented a disruptive
technology to the live player who suddenly was no longer needed for the piano to be played.
Thus debates about the need for DRM are really not all that new. In fact we can thank a
successful outcome from the famous Sony “Betamax case” in the U.S. as paving the way for
the video tape recorder being made available for mass consumer use. Copying technology
in any form has and always will represent disruptive technology.
The advent of digital media and their associated conversion technologies, especially those
that usable on mass-market general-purpose personal computers, has vastly increased the
concerns of copyright-dependent individuals and organizations, especially within the movie
business. For this reason it is incumbent that all audio video professionals have some
understanding of DRM technologies as they can play a key role in a systems design, or in
certain equipment and cabling choices that otherwise would not be a factor.
Though certain copy protection schemes exist for analog, such as Macrovision, because
digital media files may be duplicated an unlimited number of times, with no degradation in
quality, DRM technologies are used by publishers to enforce access policies that not only
disallow copyright infringements, but also prevent lawful fair use of copyrighted works.
pg 26 StreamNet Digital Media and System Design Reference Guide
Digital File Security and DRM