Digital Rights Managment (DRM) – A deeper look

[Apple's DRM technology restricts users' abilities to use files they purchase immensely] 

There has been a lot of talk about DRM over the past year or so, especially since it has often been cast in such a negative light. Amazon.com listed its strictly non-DRM MP3s as one of their catalog of MP3s’ main selling points, especially when contrasted with iTunes, who only sell non-DRM MP3s for an extra 30 cents, (60 cents extra for videos and a 30% mark up for albums) that they market as “iTunes Plus”. Amazon, on the other hand, sells 256kbps (compared to the 128kpbs of most iTunes mp3s) non-DRM mp3s for 99 cents. But what exactly is DRM and why is it so bad? From our good friends at Wikipedia -

“Digital rights management (DRM) is an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. It may also refer to restrictions associated with specific instances of digital works or devices. To some extent, DRM overlaps with copy protection, but DRM is usually applied to creative media (music, films, etc.) whereas copy protection typically refers to software.”

Also worth reading -the Wikipedia Page on FairPlay, the brand of DRM used by iTunes.

In summary – iTunes rips you off in terms of quality, use and often iTunes Store mp3s won’t play in anything other than an iPod, among various other restrictions.