DRM what is it? like to know? Read the following from winxp news letter...
As I was saying
Generally, DRM uses encryption to prevent unauthorized use and copying. DRM technology got a big boost when the U.S. Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998 (for more info on the Act click on the link below). Additional bills have been introduced since then, that would further criminalize unauthorized use of copyrighted materials and mandate that hardware manufacturers build DRM capability into their products.
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030225ED-DMCA
One of the most prominent programs that incorporates DRM is Windows Media Player. You can find out more about DRM in Media Player on the Microsoft web site below. Another example of DRM is Microsoft's Palladium platform that will presumably be incorporated into future versions of Windows. For more information about Palladium click on the link below (note that Microsoft has dropped the name "Palladium").
DRM in Media Player:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?i...D-Media_Player
Palladium:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?i...25ED-Palladium
The purpose of DRM is to prevent theft of intellectual property. The problem is that most of the technologies also prevent legal "fair use" such as the ability for someone who has legitimately purchased a CD, DVD or software program to make a backup copy for him/herself in case the original is damaged. DRM also creates situations where the consumer is denied access to software they've purchased because of problems inherent in most copy protection schemes.
Because of this, there has been a large backlash against DRM, especially in the open source community. There are a number of organizations that oppose increasing government regulation of digital content and the Internet, or that raise concerns about the ways in which these laws are being implemented. Balancing the rights of copyright holders with the rights of those who buy and use the content isn't easy. A big issue is how DRM technologies invade the privacy of all users to find those who are violating copyright, and the "guilty until proven innocent" aspect of the DRM technologies. These issues, and many more, are discussed in detail at web sites such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (
http://www.eff.org). DRM is a complex and controversial topic, but it's one that every Internet user should take time to become familiar with, because it directly affects how we are allowed to use the hardware, software and services that we pay for.
Hope this clears things up.
tomsolomon...