Digital rights management (
DRM)
is a generic term for
access control
technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers,
publishers,
copyright holders and
individuals to try to impose limitations on the usage of digital
content and devices. The term is used to describe any technology
which inhibits uses (legitimate or otherwise) of digital content
that were not desired or foreseen by the content provider. The term
generally doesn't refer to other forms of
copy protection which can be circumvented
without modifying the file or device, such as
serial numbers or
keyfiles. It can also refer to restrictions
associated with specific instances of digital works or devices.
Digital
rights management is being used by companies such as Sony, Apple
Inc.
, Microsoft and the
BBC.
The use of digital rights management is controversial. Proponents
argue it is needed by copyright holders to prevent unauthorized
duplication of their work, either to maintain artistic integrity or
to ensure continued revenue streams. Some opponents, such as the
Free Software Foundation,
maintain that the use of the word "rights" is misleading and
suggest that people instead use the term
digital
restrictions management. Their position is essentially
that copyright holders are restricting the use of material in ways
that are beyond the scope of existing copyright laws, and should
not be covered by future laws. The
Electronic Frontier
Foundation, and other opponents, also consider DRM systems to
be
anti-competitive
practices.
In practice, all widely-used DRM systems are eventually defeated or
circumvented. Completely restricting the copying of audio and
visual material is impossible due to the inevitable
analog hole.
Introduction
DRM technologies attempt to control use of digital media by
preventing access, copying or conversion to other formats by
end users. Long before the arrival of
digital or even electronic media, copyright holders, content
producers, or other financially or artistically interested parties
had business and legal objections to copying technologies.
Examples
include: player piano rolls early in
the 20th century, audio
tape recording, and video tape
recording (e.g. the "Betamax
case" in the U.S.
).
Copying technology thus exemplifies a
disruptive technology.
The advent of digital media and analog/digital conversion
technologies, especially those that are usable on mass-market
general-purpose personal computers, has vastly increased the
concerns of copyright-dependent individuals and organizations,
especially within the music and movie industries, because these
individuals and organizations are partly or wholly dependent on the
revenue generated from such works. While
analog media inevitably loses quality with
each
copy generation, and in some
cases even during normal use, digital media files may be duplicated
an unlimited number of times with no degradation in the quality of
subsequent copies. The advent of
personal computers as household appliances
has made it convenient for consumers to convert media (which may or
may not be copyrighted) originally in a physical/analog form or a
broadcast form into a universal, digital form (this process is
called
ripping) for location- or
timeshifting. This, combined with the
Internet and popular
file
sharing tools, has made unauthorized distribution of copies of
copyrighted digital media (so-called
digital piracy) much easier.
Although technical controls on the reproduction and use of software
have been intermittently used since the 1970s, the term 'DRM' has
come to primarily mean the use of these measures to control
artistic or literary content. DRM technologies have enabled
publishers to enforce access policies that not only disallow
copyright infringements, but
also prevent lawful
fair use of copyrighted
works, or even implement use constraints on non-copyrighted works
that they distribute; examples include the placement of DRM on
certain
public-domain or
open-licensed e-books, or DRM included in
consumer electronic devices that time-shift (and apply DRM to) both
copyrighted and non-copyrighted works.
DRM is most commonly used by the
entertainment industry (
e.g.
film and
recording).
Many online music stores, such as Apple's iTunes Store, as well
as many e-book publishers, have imposed DRM
on their customers. In recent years, a number of
television producers have imposed DRM
mandates on consumer electronic devices, to control access to the
freely-broadcast content of their shows, in connection with the
popularity of time-shifting
digital video recorder systems such
as
TiVo.
Technologies
DRM and film
An early example of a DRM system was the
Content Scrambling System (CSS)
employed by the
DVD Forum on film
DVDs since
ca. 1996. CSS used a
simple
encryption algorithm,
and required device manufacturers to sign
license agreements that restricted the
inclusion of features, such as digital outputs that could be used
to extract high-quality digital copies of the film, in their
players. Thus, the only consumer hardware capable of decoding DVD
films was controlled, albeit indirectly, by the DVD Forum,
restricting the use of DVD media on other systems until the release
of
DeCSS by
Jon
Lech Johansen in 1999, which allowed a CSS-encrypted DVD to
play properly on a computer using
Linux, for
which the Alliance had not arranged a licensed version of the CSS
playing
software.
Microsoft's
Windows Vista contains a DRM system called the
Protected Media Path, which
contains the Protected Video Path (PVP). PVP tries to stop
DRM-restricted content from playing while unsigned software is
running in order to prevent the unsigned software from accessing
the content. Additionally, PVP can encrypt information during
transmission to the monitor or the graphics card, which makes it
more difficult to make unauthorized recordings.
Advanced Access Content
System (AACS) is a DRM system for HD DVD
and Blu-Ray Discs developed by the AACS
Licensing Administrator, LLC (AACS LA), a consortium that includes Disney, Intel
, Microsoft, Matsushita (Panasonic), Warner Brothers, IBM,
Toshiba and Sony.
In December 2006 a process key was published on the internet by
hackers, enabling
unrestricted access to AACS-restricted HD DVD content. After the
cracked keys were revoked, further cracked keys were
released.
The
broadcast flag concept was
developed by Fox Broadcasting in 2001 and was supported by the
MPAA and the
FCC. A ruling
in May 2005 by a US Court of Appeals held that the FCC lacked
authority to impose it on the TV industry in the US. It required
that all HDTVs obey a stream specification determining whether or
not a stream can be recorded. This could block instances of fair
use, such as
time-shifting. It
achieved more success elsewhere when it was adopted by the
Digital Video Broadcasting
Project (DVB), a consortium of about 250 broadcasters,
manufactures, network operators, software developers, and
regulatory bodies from about 35 countries involved in attempting to
develop new digital TV standards.
An updated variant of the broadcast flag has been developed in the
Content Protection and Copy Management (
DVB-CPCM). It was developed in private, and the
technical specification was submitted to European governments in
March 2007. As with much DRM, the CPCM system is intended to
control use of copyrighted material by the end-user, at the
direction of the copyright holder. According to Ren Bucholz of the
EFF, which paid to be
a member of the consortium, "You won't even know ahead of time
whether and how you will be able to record and make use of
particular programs or devices". The DVB supports the system as it
will harmonize copyright holders' control across different
technologies and so make things easier for end users. The CPCM
system is expected to be submitted to the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute in 2008.
DRM and music
Audio CDs
Discs with digital rights management schemes are not legitimately
standards-compliant
Compact Discs (CDs)
but are rather CD-ROM media. Therefore they all lack the CD
logotype found on discs which follow the standard (known as
Red Book). Therefore
these CDs could not be played on all
CD
players. Many consumers could also no longer play purchased CDs
on their computers.
PC running
Microsoft Windows would sometimes
even crash when attempting to play the CDs.
In 2002,
Bertelsmann
(comprising BMG, Arista, and RCA) was the
first corporation to use DRM on audio CDs. In 2005,
Sony BMG introduced new
DRM technology which installed DRM software on users' computers
without clearly notifying the user or requiring confirmation. Among
other things, the installed software included a
rootkit, which created a severe security
vulnerability others could exploit. When the nature of the DRM
involved was made public much later, Sony initially minimized the
significance of the vulnerabilities its software had created, but
was eventually compelled to recall millions of CDs, and released
several attempts to patch the surreptitiously included software to
at least remove the rootkit. Several
class action lawsuits were filed, which
were ultimately settled by agreements to provide affected consumers
with a cash payout or album downloads free of DRM.
Sony's DRM
software actually had only a limited ability to prevent
copying, as it affected only playback on Windows computers, not on
other equipment. Even on the Windows platform, users regularly
bypassed the restrictions. And, while the Sony DRM technology
created fundamental vulnerabilities in customers' computers, parts
of it could be trivially bypassed by holding down the "shift" key
while inserting the CD, or by disabling the
autorun feature. In addition, audio tracks could
simply be played and re-recorded, thus completely bypassing all of
the DRM (this is known as the
analog hole). Sony's
first two attempts at releasing a
patch which would remove the DRM software
from users' computers failed.
In January 2007,
EMI stopped publishing audio
CDs with DRM, stating that "the costs of DRM do not measure up to
the results." Following EMI,
Sony BMG was
the last publisher to abolish DRM completely, and audio CDs
containing DRM are no longer released by the four record
labels.
Internet music
Many online music stores employ DRM to restrict usage of music
purchased and downloaded online. There are many options for
consumers wishing to purchase digital music over the internet:
- The iTunes Store, run by Apple
Inc., allows users to purchase a track online for $0.99 US. The
tracks purchased use Apple's FairPlay DRM
system. Apple later launched iTunes Plus, which offered
higher quality DRM-free tracks for a higher price. On October 17,
2007, iTunes Plus became available at the usual $.99 price,
replacing the non-Plus tracks. On January 6, 2009 Apple announced
at its Macworld Expo keynote that iTunes music would be available
completely DRM free by the end of the month. Videos sold and rented
through iTunes, as well as mobile software sold through the iTunes
App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch, continue to use Apple's
FairPlay DRM to inhibit casual copying.
- Napster music store, which
offers a subscription-based approach to DRM alongside permanent
purchases. Users of the subscription service can download and
stream an unlimited amount of music transcoded to Windows Media Audio while subscribed to
the service. But when the subscription period lapses, all of the
downloaded music is unplayable until the user renews his or her
subscription. Napster also charges users who wish to use the music
on their portable device an additional $5 per month. In addition,
Napster gives users the option of paying an additional $0.99 per
track to burn it to CD or for the song to never expire. Music
bought through Napster can be played on players carrying the
Microsoft PlaysForSure logo
(which, notably, do not include iPods or even
Microsoft's own Zune). As of June 2009 Napster
is giving DRM free MP3 music, which can be played on iPhones and
iPods.
- Wal-Mart Music Downloads, another online music download store,
charges $0.94 per track for all non-sale downloads. All Wal-Mart,
Music Downloads are able to be played on any Windows PlaysForSure
marked product. The music does play on the SanDisk's Sansa
mp3 player, for example, but must be
copied to the player's internal
memory. It cannot be played through the player's microSD card slot, which is a problem that many
users of the mp3 player experience.
- Sony operated an online music download
service called "Connect" which used
Sony's proprietary OpenMG DRM technology.
Music downloaded from this store (usually via Sony's SonicStage software) was only playable on
computers running Windows and Sony
hardware (including the PSP and
some Sony Ericsson phones).
The various services are currently not interoperable, though those
that use the same DRM system (for instance the several Windows
Media DRM format stores, including Napster and Yahoo Music) all
provide songs that can be played side-by-side through the same
player program. Almost all stores require client software of some
sort to be downloaded, and some also need
plug-ins.
Several colleges and
universities, such as Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute
, have made arrangements with assorted Internet
music suppliers to provide access (typically DRM-restricted) to
music files for their students, to less than universal popularity,
sometimes making payments from student activity fee funds.
One of the problems is that the music becomes unplayable after
leaving school unless the student continues to pay individually.
Another is that few of these vendors are compatible with the most
common portable music player, the Apple iPod. The
Gowers Review of
Intellectual Property (to HMG in the UK; 141 pages, 40+
specific recommendations) has taken note of the incompatibilities,
and suggests (Recommendations 8—12) that there be explicit fair
dealing exceptions to copyright allowing libraries to copy and
format-shift between DRM schemes, and further allowing end users to
do the same privately. If adopted, some of the acrimony may
decrease.
Although DRM is prevalent for Internet music, some
online music stores such as
eMusic,
Dogmazic,
Amazon, and
Beatport, do
not use DRM despite encouraging users to avoid sharing music.
Another online retailer, Xiie.net, which sells only unsigned
artists, encourages people to share the music they buy from the
site, to increase exposure for the artists themselves. Major labels
have begun releasing more online music without DRM. Eric Bangeman
suggests in Ars Technica that this is because the record labels are
"slowly beginning to realize that they can't have DRMed music and
complete control over the online music market at the same time...
One way to break the cycle is to sell music that is playable on any
digital audio player. eMusic does exactly that, and their
surprisingly extensive catalog of non-DRMed music has vaulted it
into the number two online music store position behind the iTunes
Store." Apple's
Steve Jobs has called on
the music industry to eliminate DRM in an open letter titled
Thoughts on Music. Apple's iTunes
store will start to sell DRM-free 256 kbit/s (up from 128 kbit/s)
AAC encoded music from EMI for
a premium price (this has since reverted to the standard price).In
March 2007, Musicload.de, one of Europe's largest online music
retailers, announced their position strongly against DRM. In an
open letter, Musicload stated that three out of every four calls to
their customer support phone service are as a result of consumer
frustration with DRM.
Computer games
Computer games sometimes use DRM technologies to limit the number
of systems the game can be installed on. Most games with this
restriction allow three or five installs. This limits users who
have more than three or five computers in their homes (Seeing as
the rights of the software developers allow them to limit the
number of installations). Other software (such as
FADE) slowly remove and degrade the protected software
over time, eventually rendering it unplayable. In 2008 the DRM
scheme backfired and a large number of users decided not to pay for
the game, seeking a pirated version instead. The most prominent
cases involving the DRM technology
SecuROM
include
Spore,
BioShock,
Mass Effect and
Gears Of War. The backlash against SecuROM
was a significant factor in
Spore becoming the most
pirated game in 2008.
E-books
Electronic books read on a
personal computer or an
e-book reader typically use DRM restrictions
to limit copying, printing, and sharing of e-books. E-books are
usually limited to a certain number of reading devices and some
e-publishers prevent any copying or printing. Some commentators
believe that DRM is something that makes E-book publishing
complex.
Two of the most commonly used software programs to view e-books are
Adobe Reader and
Microsoft Reader. Each program uses a
slightly different approach to DRM. The first version of Adobe
Acrobat e-book Reader to have encryption technologies was version
5.05. In the later version 6.0, the technologies of the PDF reader
and the e-book reader were combined, allowing it to read both
DRM-restricted and unrestricted files. After opening the file, the
user is able to view the rights statement, which outlines actions
available for the specific document. For example, for a freely
transferred
PDF, printing, copying to the
clipboard, and other basic functions are available to the user.
However, when viewing a more highly restricted
e-book, the user is unable to print the book, copy or
paste selections. The level of restriction is specified by the
publisher or distribution agency.
Microsoft Reader, which exclusively
reads e-books in a .lit format, contains its own DRM software. In
Microsoft Reader there are three different levels of access control
depending on the e-book: sealed e-books, inscribed e-books and
owner exclusive e-books. Sealed e-books have the least amount of
restriction and only prevents the document from being modified.
Therefore, the reader cannot alter the content of the book to
change the ending, for instance. Inscribed e-books are the next
level of restriction. After purchasing and downloading the e-book,
Microsoft Reader puts a digital ID tag to identify the owner of the
e-book. Therefore, this discourages distribution of the e-book
because it is inscribed with the owner’s name making it possible to
trace it back to the original copy that was distributed. Other
e-book software uses similar DRM schemes. For example, Palm Digital
Media, now known as
Ereader, links the
credit card information of the purchaser to the e-book copy in
order to discourage distribution of the books.
The most stringent form of security that Microsoft Reader offers is
called owner exclusive e-books, which uses traditional DRM
technologies. To buy the e-book the consumer must first open
Microsoft Reader, which ensures that when the book is downloaded it
becomes linked to the computer’s
Microsoft Passport account. Thus the
e-book can only be opened with the computer with which it was
downloaded, preventing copying and distribution of the text.
Amazon.com has remotely deleted purchased
copies of
George Orwell's
1984 and
Animal Farm from customer's
Amazon Kindles. Commenters have widely
described these actions as
Orwellian, and
have alluded to
Big
Brother from Orwell's
1984. After an apology from
Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos, the
Free Software Foundation has
written that this is just one more example of the excessive power
Amazon has to remotely censor what people read through its
software, and called upon Amazon to free its e-book reader and drop
DRM.
DRM and documents
Enterprise digital rights management
(
E-DRM or
ERM) is the application
of DRM technology to the control of access to corporate documents
such as
Microsoft Word,
PDF, and
AutoCAD files, emails,
and
intranet web pages rather than to the
control of consumer media. E-DRM, now more commonly referenced as
IRM (
Information Rights
Management), is generally intended to prevent the unauthorized
use (such as
industrial or
corporate espionage or inadvertent release) of proprietary
documents. IRM typically integrates with
content management system software.
DRM has
been used by organizations such as the British Library
in its secure electronic delivery
service to permit worldwide access to substantial numbers of
rare (and in many cases unique) documents which, for legal reasons,
were previously only available to authorized individuals actually
visiting the Library's document centre at Boston Spa in
England.
Watermarks
Digital watermarks are
unobtrusive features of media that are added during production or
distribution. Digital watermarks involve data that is arguably
steganographically embedded within the
audio or video data.
Watermarks can be used for different purposes that may
include:
- for recording the copyright owner
- for recording the distributor
- for recording the distribution chain
- for identifying the purchaser of the music
Watermarks are not complete DRM mechanisms in their own right, but
are used as part of a system for Digital Rights Management, such as
helping provide prosecution evidence for purely legal avenues of
rights management, rather than direct technological restriction.
Some programs used to edit video and/or audio may distort, delete,
or otherwise interfere with watermarks. Signal/modulator-carrier
chromatography may also separate watermarks from original audio or
detect them as glitches. Use of third party media players and other
advanced programs render watermarking useless. Additionally,
comparison of two separately obtained copies of audio using simple,
home-grown algorithms can often reveal watermarks. New methods of
detection are currently under investigation by both industry and
non-industry researchers.
Metadata
Sometimes,
metadata is included in
purchased music which records information such as the purchaser's
name, account information, or email address. This information is
not embedded in the played audio or video data, like a watermark,
but is kept separate, but within the file or stream.
As an example, metadata is used in media purchased from Apple's
iTunes Store for DRM-free as well as DRM-restricted versions of
their music or videos. This information is included as MPEG
standard metadata.
Table of DRM technologies and associated devices
|
Name |
Used In |
Date of Use |
Description |
|
DRM Schemes Currently in Use |
|
Personal computer DRM |
| Windows Media DRM |
Many Online Video Distribution Networks |
1999+ |
WMV DRM is designed to provide secure delivery of audio and/or
video content over an IP network to a PC or other playback device
in such a way that the distributor can control how that content is
used. |
| FairPlay |
The iTunes Store, iPod |
2003+ |
Purchased music files were encoded as AAC, then encrypted with an additional
format that renders the file exclusively compatible with iTunes and
the iPod. On January 6 2009, Apple announced that the iTunes Store
would begin offering all songs DRM-free. |
| Helix & Harmony |
Real Networks services |
2003+ |
A DRM system from Real Networks
intended to be interoperable with other DRM schemes, particularly
FairPlay. Ultimately used only by Real Networks. |
| Orion/EasyLicenser [701897] |
Enterprise, business, networking, financial, telecom and
consumer applications |
2003+ |
Restriction for applications written in Java, .Net or C/C++ on
Windows, Linux, Solaris and Mac |
| Adobe Protected
Streaming |
Flash Video/Audio Streaming |
2006+ |
The Media-Streams are encrypted "on the fly" by the Flash Media
Server (the protocol used is rtmpe or rtmps). In addition the
client player can be verified via "SWF-Verification", to make sure
that only the official client can be used. |
| PlayReady |
Computers, Mobile and Portable Devices |
2007+ |
PlayReady is designed to encrypt WMA, WMV, AAC, AAC+, enhanced
AAC+, and H.263 and H.264 codecs files. PlayReady is actually a new
version of Windows Media DRM for Silverlight. Silverlight 2-based
online content can be restricted using PlayReady and played back
via the Silverlight plug-in. PlayReady is promoted by Microsoft |
|
Portable device DRM |
| Janus WMA DRM |
All PlaysForSure Devices |
2004+ |
Janus is the codename
for a portable version of Windows
Media DRM intended portable devices. |
| OMA DRM |
Implemented in over 550 phone models. |
2004+ |
A DRM system invented by the Open Mobile Alliance to control
copying of cell phone ring tones. Also used to control access to media
files, such as video. |
|
Storage media DRM |
| VHS Macrovision |
Almost all VHS Video through the end of the 20th Century |
1984+ |
When dubbing a Macrovision-encoded tape, a video stream which
has passed through the recording VCR will become dark and then
normal again periodically, degrading quality. The picture may also
become unstable when darkest. |
| Content-scrambling
system (CSS) |
Some DVD Discs |
1996+ |
CSS utilizes a weak, 40-bit
stream cipher to actively encrypt
DVD-Video. |
| DVD Region Code |
Some DVD Discs |
1996+ |
Many DVD-Video discs contain one or more region codes, marking
those area[s] of the world in which playback is permitted. This
restriction enforces artificial market segmentation. |
| ARccOS Protection |
Some DVD Discs |
1997? |
Adds corrupt data sectors to the DVD, preventing computer
software implementing computer standards from successfully reading
the media. DVD players execute the on-disk program which skips the
(corrupt) ARccOS sectors. |
| OpenMG |
ATRAC audio devices (e.g., MiniDisc players), Memory Stick
based audio players, AnyMusic distribution service |
1999+ |
A proprietary DRM system invented and promoted by Sony. |
|
DRM Schemes no Longer in Use |
| Extended Copy
Protection |
Sony and BMG CDs |
2005 |
Also known as the 'Sony Rootkit'. Although not classified as a
virus by many anti-virus software producers, it bore many
virus-like and trojan-like characteristics, rendering it illegal in
some places and dangerous to infected computers in all. After it
became publicly known, protests and litigation resulted in
withdrawal by Sony. The US litigation was settled by payment by
Sony. |
Laws regarding DRM
Digital rights management systems have received some international
legal backing by implementation of the 1996
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT). Article
11 of the Treaty requires nations party to the treaties to enact
laws against DRM circumvention.
The WCT has been implemented in most member states of the
World Intellectual
Property Organization. The American implementation is the
Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), while in Europe the treaty has been
implemented by the 2001
European directive on
copyright, which requires member states of the
European Union to implement legal protections
for technological prevention measures. , the lower house of the
French parliament adopted such legislation as part of the
controversial
DADVSI law, but added that
protected DRM techniques should be made interoperable, a move which
caused widespread controversy in the United States.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is an extension to United States
copyright law passed
unanimously on May 14, 1998, which criminalizes the production and
dissemination of technology that allows users to circumvent
technical copy-restriction methods. Under the Act,
circumvention of a technological measure that effectively controls
access to a work is illegal if done with the primary intent of
violating the rights of copyright holders. (For a more detailed
analysis of the statute, see
WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties
Implementation Act.)
Reverse engineering of existing systems is expressly permitted
under the Act under specific conditions. Under the reverse
engineering safe harbor, circumvention necessary to achieve
interoperability with other software is specifically authorized.
See 17 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(f). Open-source software to decrypt content
scrambled with the Content Scrambling System and other encryption
techniques presents an intractable problem with the application of
the Act. Much depends on the intent of the actor. If the decryption
is done for the purpose of achieving interoperability of open
source operating systems with proprietary operating systems, the
circumvention would be protected by Section 1201(f) the Act. Cf.,
Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001)
at notes 5 and 16. However, dissemination of such software for the
purpose of violating or encouraging others to violate copyrights
has been held illegal. See Universal City Studios, Inc. v.
Reimerdes, 111 F. Supp. 2d 346 (S.D.N.Y. 2000).
On
22 May,
2001, the
European Union passed the
EU
Copyright Directive, an implementation of the 1996 WIPO
Copyright Treaty that addressed many of the same issues as the
DMCA.
The DMCA has been largely ineffective in protecting DRM systems, as
software allowing users to circumvent DRM remains widely available.
However, those who wish to preserve the DRM systems have attempted
to use the Act to restrict the distribution and development of such
software, as in the case of DeCSS.
Although the Act contains an exception for research, the exception
is subject to vague qualifiers that do little to reassure
researchers. Cf., 17 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(g). The DMCA has had an
impact on
cryptography, because many
fear that cryptanalytic research may violate the DMCA. The arrest
of Russian programmer
Dmitry
Sklyarov in 2001, for alleged infringement of the DMCA, was a
highly publicized example of the law's use to prevent or penalize
development of anti-DRM measures. Sklyarov was arrested in the
United States after a presentation at
DEF
CON, and subsequently spent several months in jail.
The DMCA
has also been cited as chilling to non-criminal inclined users,
such as students of cryptanalysis
(including, in a well-known instance, Professor Felten and students
at Princeton
), and security consultants such as the Netherlands
based Niels Ferguson, who has
declined to publish information about vulnerabilities he discovered
in an Intel
secure-computing scheme because of his concern about being arrested
under the DMCA when he travels to the US.
On
25 April,
2007 the
European Parliament supported the first directive of EU, which aims
to harmonize criminal law in the member states. It adopted a first
reading report on harmonizing the national measures for fighting
copyright abuse. If the European Parliament and the Council approve
the legislation, the submitted directive will oblige the member
states to consider a crime a violation of international copyright
committed with commercial purposes. The text suggests numerous
measures: from fines to imprisonment, depending on the gravity of
the offense.
The EP members supported the Commission motion, changing some of
the texts. They excluded patent rights from the range of the
directive and decided that the sanctions should apply only to
offenses with commercial purposes. Copying for personal,
non-commercial purposes was also excluded from the range of the
directive.
International issues
In Europe, there are several ongoing dialog activities that are
characterized by their consensus-building intention:
- Workshop on Digital Rights Management of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),
January 2001. [701898]
- Participative preparation of the European Committee for
Standardization/Information Society Standardisation System
(CEN/ISSS) DRM Report, 2003 (finished). [701899]
- DRM Workshops of
Directorate-General for Information Society and Media
(finished), and the work of the DRM working groups (finished), as well as the work
of the High Level Group on DRM (ongoing). [701900]
- Consultation process of the European Commission, DG Internal
Market, on the Communication COM(2004)261 by the European
Commission on "Management of Copyright and Related Rights"
(closed). [701901]
- The INDICARE project is an ongoing
dialogue on consumer acceptability of DRM solutions in Europe. It
is an open and neutral platform for exchange of facts and opinions,
mainly based on articles by authors from science and practice.
- The AXMEDIS project is a European
Commission Integrated Project of the FP6. The main goal of AXMEDIS
is automating the content production, copy protection and distribution, reducing
the related costs and supporting DRM at both B2B and B2C areas
harmonising them.
- The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property is the result of a
commission by the British Government from Andrew Gowers, undertaken in December 2005 and
published in 2006, with recommendations regarding copyright term,
exceptions, orphaned works, and copyright enforcement.
The
European Community was
expected to produce a recommendation on DRM in 2006, phasing out
the use of
levies (compensation to rights
holders charged on media sales for lost revenue due to unauthorized
copying) given the advances in DRM/TPM technology. However,
opposition from the member states, particularly France, have now
made it unlikely that the recommendation will be adopted.
Controversy
DRM opposition
Many organizations, prominent individuals, and computer scientists
are opposed to DRM. Two notable DRM critics are
John Walker, as expressed for
instance, in his article
The
Digital Imprimatur: How big brother and big media can put the
Internet genie back in the bottle, and
Richard Stallman in his article
The
Right to Read and in other public statements: "DRM is an
example of a malicious feature - a feature designed to hurt the
user of the software, and therefore, it's something for which there
can never be toleration". Professor
Ross Anderson of Cambridge
University heads a British organization which opposes DRM and
similar efforts in the UK and elsewhere.
Cory Doctorow, a prominent writer and
technology blogger, spoke on the
Microsoft
campus criticizing the technology, the morality, and the marketing
of DRM.
There have been numerous others who see DRM at a more fundamental
level.
TechMediums.com argues that DRM-free music
allows for viral marketing, arguing that independent artists
benefit from "free marketing" and can then focus on revenues from
higher margin products like merchandise and concert ticket sales.
This is similar to some of the ideas in Michael H. Goldhaber's
presentation about "The Attention Economy and the Net" at a 1997
conference on the "Economics of Digital Information." (sample quote
from the "Advice for the Transition" section of that presentation:
"If you can't figure out how to afford it without charging, you may
be doing something wrong.")
The
Electronic Frontier
Foundation and similar organizations such as
FreeCulture.org also hold positions which
are characterized as opposed to DRM.
The
Foundation for
a Free Information Infrastructure has criticized DRM's impact
as a
trade barrier from a
free market perspective.
The final version of the
GNU
General Public License version 3, as released by the
Free Software Foundation, has a
provision that 'strips' DRM of its legal value, so people can break
the DRM on GPL software without breaking laws like the
DMCA. Also, in May 2006, the FSF launched a "
Defective by Design" campaign against
DRM.
Creative Commons provides licensing
options encouraging the expansion of and building upon creative
work without the use of DRM. In addition, the use of a Creative
Commons-licensed work on a device which incorporates DRM is a
breach of the Baseline Rights asserted by each license.
Bill Gates spoke about DRM at CES in 2006. According to him, DRM is
not where it should be, and causes problems for legitimate
consumers while trying to distinguish between legitimate and
illegitimate users.
According
to Steve Jobs, Apple opposes DRM
music after a public letter calling its music labels to stop
requiring DRM on its iTunes
Store. As of January 6, 2009, the
iTunes Store is DRM-free for songs. However,
Apple considers DRM on video content as a separate issue and has
not removed DRM from all of its video catalog.
As already noted, many DRM opponents consider "digital rights
management" to be a misnomer. They argue that DRM manages rights
(or access) the same way prison manages freedom and often refer to
it as "digital restrictions management". Alternatively, ZDNet
Executive Editor David Berlind suggests the term "Content
Restriction, Annulment and Protection" or "CRAP" for short.
The Norwegian Consumer rights organization "Forbrukerrådet"
complained to Apple Inc. in 2007 about the company's use of DRM in,
and in conjunction with, its iPod and iTunes products. Apple was
accused of restricting users' access to their music and videos in
an unlawful way, and of using
EULAs which
conflict with Norwegian consumer legislation. The complaint was
supported by consumers'
ombudsmen in
Sweden and Denmark, and is currently being reviewed in the EU.
Similarly, the United States
Federal Trade Commission is
planning to hold hearings in March of
2009 to
review disclosure of DRM limitations to customers' use of media
products.
The use of DRM may also be a barrier to future historians, since
technologies designed to permit data to be read only on particular
machines, or with particular keys, or for certain periods, may well
make future data recovery impossible — see
Digital Revolution. This
argument connects the issue of DRM with that of asset management
and archive technology.
DRM opponents argue that the presence of DRM violates existing
private property rights and
restricts a range of heretofore normal and legal user activities. A
DRM component would control a device a user owns (such as a
Digital audio player) by
restricting how it may act with regards to certain content,
overriding some of the user's wishes (for example, preventing the
user from burning a copyrighted song to
CD as part of a compilation or a review). An
example of this effect may be seen in
Microsoft's
Windows
Vista operating system in which content is disabled or degraded
depending on the DRM scheme's evaluation of whether the hardware
and its use are 'secure'. All forms of DRM depend on the DRM
enabled device (e.g., computer, DVD player, TV) imposing
restrictions that (at least by intent) cannot be disabled or
modified by the user.
Tools like
FairUse4WM have been created
to strip Windows Media of DRM restrictions.
Valve Corporation President
Gabe Newell also stated "most DRM
strategies are just dumb" because they only decrease the value of a
game in the consumer's eyes. Newell's suggests pairing DRM with
"[creating] greater value for customers through service value", and
stopped short of repudiating Valve's DRM system, known as
Steam. However, Mr. Newell's anti-DRM rhetoric
flies in the face of Steam's own copy-protection strategy, which is
actually a form of DRM.
"DRM-Free"
Due to the strong opposition that exists to DRM, many companies and
artists have begun advertising their products as "DRM-Free".
Most notably, Apple began selling "DRM-Free" music through their
iTunes store in April 2007. It was later revealed that the DRM-Free
iTunes files were still embedded with each user's account
information, a technique called
Digital watermarking generally not
regarded as DRM. In January 2009, iTunes began marketing all of
their songs as "DRM-Free", however iTunes continues to use DRM on
movies, TV shows, ringtones, and audiobooks.
Shortcomings
Methods to bypass DRM
There are many methods to bypass DRM control on audio and video
content.
One simple method to bypass DRM on audio files is to burn the
content to an audio CD and then
rip it into
DRM-free files. This is only possible when the software that plays
these DRM-restricted audio files allows CD-burning. Some software
products simplify and automate this burn-rip process by allowing
the user to burn music to a CD-RW disc or to a Virtual CD-R drive,
then automatically ripping and encoding the music, and
automatically repeating this process until all selected music has
been converted, rather than forcing the user to do this one CD
(72–80 minutes worth of music) at a time.
Many software programs have been developed that intercept the data
stream as it is decrypted out of the DRM-restricted file, and then
use this data to construct a DRM-free file. These programs require
a decryption key. Programs that do this for DVDs, HD DVDs, and
Blu-ray Discs include universal decryption keys in the software
itself. Programs that do this for TiVo ToGo recordings, iTunes
audio, and PlaysForSure songs, however, rely on the user's own key
— that is, they can only process content that the user has legally
acquired under his or her own account.
Another method is to use software to record the signals being sent
through the audio or video cards, or to plug analog recording
devices into the analog outputs of the media player. These
techniques utilize the so-called "
analog
hole" (see below).
Analog hole
All forms of DRM for audio and visual material (excluding
interactive materials, like videogames) are subject to the
analog hole, namely that in order for a viewer to play the
material, the digital signal must be turned into an analog signal
containing light and/or sound for the viewer, and so available to
be copied as no DRM is capable of controlling content in this form.
In other words, a user could play a purchased audio file while
using a separate program to record the sound back into the computer
into a DRM-free file format.
All DRM to date, and probably all future ones can therefore be
bypassed by recording this signal and digitally storing and
distributing it in a non DRM limited form, by anyone who has the
technical means of recording the analog stream. However the
conversion from digital to analog and back is likely to force a
loss of quality, particularly when using
lossy
digital formats.
HDCP is an attempt to restrict
the analog hole, although it is largely ineffective.
Asus released a soundcard which features a
function called "Analog Loopback Transformation" to bypass the
restrictions of DRM. This feature allows the user to record
DRM-restricted audio via the soundcard's built-in analog I/O
connection.
DRM on general computing platforms
Many of the DRM systems in use are designed to work on general
purpose computing hardware, such as desktop PCs apparently because
this equipment is felt to be a major contributor to revenue loss
from disallowed copying. Large commercial copyright infringers
("pirates") avoid consumer equipment, so losses from such
infringers will not be covered by such provisions.
It is been hypothesized that such schemes, especially software
based ones, can never be wholly secure since the software must
include all the information necessary to decrypt the content, such
as the
decryption keys. An
attacker will be able to extract this information, directly decrypt
and copy the content, which bypasses the restrictions imposed by a
DRM system.
DRM on purpose-built hardware
Many DRM schemes use encrypted media which requires purpose-built
hardware to hear or see the content. This appears to ensure that
only licensed users (those with the hardware) can access the
content. It additionally tries to protect a secret decryption key
from the users of the system.
While this in principle can work, it is extremely difficult to
build the hardware to protect the secret key against a sufficiently
determined adversary. Many such systems have failed in the field.
Once the secret key is known, building a version of the hardware
that performs no checks is often relatively straightforward. In
addition user verification provisions are frequently subject to
attack.
A common real-world example can be found in commercial
direct broadcast satellite
television systems such as
DirecTV. The
company uses tamper-resistant
smart
cards to store decryption keys so that they are hidden from the
user and the satellite receiver. However, the system has been
compromised in the past, and DirecTV has been forced to roll out
periodic updates and replacements for its smart cards.
Watermarks
Watermarks can be removed, although degradation of video or audio
can occur. In particular, most compression only retains perceptible
features of an image, and if the watermarks are invisible, they are
typically removed by compression systems as a side-effect.
Mass piracy failure
Mass piracy of hard copies does not necessarily need DRM to be
decrypted or removed, as it can be achieved by bit-perfect copying
of a legally obtained medium without accessing the decrypted
content. Additionally, still-encrypted
disk
images can be distributed over the Internet and played on
legitimately licensed players. Other copy protection methods, such
as specific data layout on the medium, perform better in this
area.
Obsolescence
When standards and formats change, it may be difficult to transfer
DRM-restricted content to new media. Additionally, any system that
requires contact with an authentication server is vulnerable to
that server becoming unavailable, as happened in 2007 when videos
purchased from
Major League
Baseball (mlb.com) prior to 2006 became unplayable due to a
change to the servers that validate the licences.
Microsoft Zune -When Microsoft introduced their
Zune media player in 2006, it did not support
content that uses Microsoft's own
PlaysForSure DRM scheme they had previously
been selling. The
EFF
calls this "a raw deal".
MSN Music -In April 2008, Microsoft sent an email
to former customers of the now-defunct MSN Music store:"As of
August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval
of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the
authorization of additional computers. You will need to obtain a
license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any
new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you
attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August
31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."
However, to avoid a public relations disaster, Microsoft re-issued
MSN Music shutdown statement on June 19
th and allowed
the users to use their licenses until the end of 2011: "After
careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to continue to support
the authorization of new computers and devices and delivery of new
license keys for MSN Music customers through at least the end of
2011, after which we will evaluate how much this functionality is
still being used and what steps should be taken next to support our
customers. This means you will continue to be able to listen to
your purchased music and transfer your music to new PCs and devices
beyond the previously announced August 31, 2008 date."
Yahoo! Music Store -On
July 23, 2008, the Yahoo! Music Store emailed its
customers to tell them it will be shutting down effective
September 30, 2008 and the DRM license key
servers will be taken offline.
Walmart -
In August 2007, Walmart
's online
music division started offering (DRM-free) MP3s as an
option. Starting in February 2008, they made all sales
DRM-free.On
September 26, 2008, the
Walmart Music Team notified its customers via email they would will
be shutting down their DRM servers
October
9, 2008 and any DRM-encumbered music acquired from them will no
longer be accessible unless ripped to a non-DRM format before that
date.
After bad press and negative reaction from customers, on October 9,
2008, Walmart decided not to take its DRM servers offline.
Fictionwise /
Overdrive -In
January 2009,
OverDrive informed
Fictionwise that they would no longer be
providing downloads for purchasers of
e-books
through Fictionwise as of 31 January 2009. No reason was provided
as to Fictionwise why they were being shut down. This prevents
previous purchases from being able to renew their books on new
devices. Fictionwise is working to provide replacement ebooks for
its customers in alternative, non-DRM formats, but does not have
the rights to provide all of the books in different formats.
Ads for Adobe PDF -Also in
January 2009,
Adobe
Systems announced that as of
March
2009 they would no longer operate the servers that served ads
to their
PDF reader. Depending on the
restriction settings used when PDF documents were created, they may
no longer be readable.
Historical note
A very early implementation of DRM was the Software Service System
(SSS) devised by the Japanese engineer Ryoichi Mori in 1983
and subsequently refined under the name
superdistribution. The SSS was based on
encryption, with specialized hardware that controlled decryption
and also enabled payments to be sent to the copyright holder. The
underlying principle of the SSS and subsequently of
superdistribution was that the distribution of encrypted digital
products should be completely unrestricted and that users of those
products would not just be permitted to redistribute them but would
actually be encouraged to do so.
See also
Related concepts
Organizations
References
Further reading
- Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture, published by Basic Books in 2004, is available for free
download in PDF format. The book is a legal and social history
of copyright. Lessig is well known, in part, for arguing recent
landmark cases on copyright law. A Professor of Law at Stanford
University
, Lessig writes for an educated lay audience,
including for non-lawyers. He is, for the most part, an
opponent of DRM technologies.
- Rosenblatt, B. et al., Digital Rights Management: Business
and Technology, published by M&T Books (John Wiley & Sons) in 2001. An
overview of DRM technology, business implications for content
publishers, and relationship to U.S. copyright law.
- Consumer's Guide to DRM, published in 10
languages (Czech, German, Greek, English, Spanish, French,
Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Swedish), produced by the INDICARE research and
dialogue project
- Eberhard Becker, Willms Buhse, Dirk Günnewig, Niels Rump:
Digital Rights Management - Technological, Economic, Legal and
Political Aspects. An 800 page compendium from 60 different
authors on DRM.
- Fetscherin, M., Implications of Digital Rights Management
on the Demand for Digital Content, provides an excellent view
on DRM from a consumers perspective. [701902]
- Bound by Law, by James Boyle et al., at Duke
University Law School
/www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/zoomcomic.html>, a comic book
treatment of the US Fair Use doctrine (with some relevance to other
jurisdictions, for example in the Commonwealth usually called Fair
Dealing), that is a license fee or permission free, under statute
and common law precedent, use of copyrighted material.
- DRM on Open Platforms - A paper by Hagai
Bar-El and Yoav Weiss on ways to partially close open platforms to
make them suitable for DRM implementations. It has been released
under a Creative commons by NC-SA license.
- The Pig and the
Box, a book with colorful illustrations and having a
coloring book version, by 'MCM'. It describes DRM in terms suited
to kids, written in reaction to a Canadian entertainment industry
copyright education initiative, aimed at children.
- Present State and Emerging Scenarios of Digital Rights
Management Systems - A paper by Marc Fetscherin which provides
an overview of the various components of DRM, pro and cons and
future outlook of how, where, when such systems might be used.
- DRM is Like Paying for Ice - Richard Menta
article on MP3 Newswire discusses how
DRM is implemented in ways to control consumers, but is undermining
perceived product value in the process.
- Challenges in Designing Content Protection
Solutions - A paper by Hagai Bar-El and Discretix that
addresses technical dilemmas and difficulties met when designing
DRM products.
- A Semantic Web Approach to Digital Rights
Management - PhD Thesis by Roberto García that tries to
address DRM issues using Semantic Web technologies and
methodologies.
- Patricia Akester, "Technological Accommodation of Conflicts
between Freedom of Expression and DRM: The First Empirical
Assessment" available at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1469412
(unveiling, through empirical lines of enquiry, (1) whether certain
acts which are permitted by law are being adversely affected by the
use of DRM and (2) whether technology can accommodate conflicts
between freedom of expression and DRM).
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