DRM Primer

We have had many stories dealing with DRM – Digital Rights Management. But what is it exactly? Our smart bud Kevin Marks of mediAgora has a primer:

DRM means any digital mechanism for negotiating rights over an interaction.

Honourable DRM means that the resulting agreement is in good faith, is based on trust, and disputes settled in a court of law.

Computer Enforced DRM means that the terms of the agreement are enforced by software (or maybe hardware software combinations) in the customer’s computer.

Surreptitious DRM means that the enforcement software is installed along with an OS or playback program, and is implicitly executed.

Hobson’s Choice DRM means that one party sets terms and the other’s choice is take it or leave it.

Coerced DRM means that any contractual violation or attempt to work around the DRM is a criminal act, as opposed to a civil contract dispute.

Vigilante DRM means that parties have immunity from prosecution if they enforce their claimed rights without the other parties consent.

Totalitarian DRM means that Computer-enforced Hobsons Choice is mandated by law, and any attempt to circumvent it, posession of a tool that could conceivably be used to circumvent it or even talking about circumventing it is a criminal offence.

Then there is Testicular DRM but that’s too ugly to even talk about.