Digital Rights Management - Essay Example

The encrypted digital audio disk supports playback but does not support transference to a second medium.  Developed and implemented in an effort to stem the rising tide of copyright violations and the resultant financial losses suffered by the industry, DRM was first employed by Bertelsmann in 2002 and soon thereafter by leading music producers such as Sony and EMI (Thompson).  The controversy which its use aroused eventually compelled music producers to cease the inclusion of DRM technology on its audio discs, with EMI being the last company to do so in 2007 (Thompson).  DRM faded out of use because it violated existent copyright laws and did not produce the expected results.

While DRM is designed to protect copyright material it does so in a way that violates existent fair use policies.  As Sarah Houghton-Jan writes, “DRM makes it illegal for the owner of that CD to use that content on more than one device (which you should be legally allowed to do)” (53).  When a person purchases an audio disc that has DRM technology embedded in it, the person is consenting to DTM terms.  These terms include, in some cases, the inability to play the CD audio content on more than one machine and, quite possibly, the inability to play it on any of the machines which the user owns (Houghton-Jan, 53-54).  In reference to the last, this is because not all machines have the required decryption codec installed.  The implication here is that DRM technology violates the owner’s right to play the audio CD on any machine s/he chooses and restricts the types of machines on which  s/he can play the CD.  Hence, restrictions on use extend beyond the illegal duplication and dissemination of the copyrighted music and, indeed violate the CD owner’s rights.

Apart from its violation of fair use policy, DRM had the effect, not of halting illegal copying of copyrighted music but, of negatively impacting music sales.  As the music industry’s leading producers, EMI, Sony, and others have realized “DRM doesn’t work and actually negatively impacts sales”  (Rapoza, 47).  It is an extremely costly approach to the prevention of copyright violations and, more importantly, it does not fulfill its promise to prevent unauthorized copying and dissemination.  This is because encryption codes have proven vulnerable to hacks.  Added to that, potential music buyers are averse to purchasing audio CDs which impose unreasonable limitations on use and, indeed, violate fair use policies (Rapoza, 47).  It is because of these reasons that DRM is being phased out of use. 

DRM violates fair use policies, is costly, has not fulfilled its purpose, and has negatively impacted sales.