Freedom from Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Support the campaign of removing DRM in music, games, movies and other virtual objects

Many people support the campaign of removing DRM in music, games, movies and other virtual objects. But what is DRM? Digital Rights Management, also known as copy protection or content protection, is the name used to describe the restriction that companies set to protect the copyright infringement of any content by users and buyers. In simple terms, DRM is used to limit the capabilities of the buyer or customer to use the content he bought. Major music companies like Apple, Sony and Microsoft fully utilize the DRM. This can be a positive pursuit, as the goal is to promote music by legally purchasing them. However, the rules regarding the use of that music which is purchased is very limiting which makes it very disadvantageous for the person who purchased it, especially if he did so online. Here are some of the reasons why.

First, you are not allowed to duplicate the song you have purchased online. Hence, you will only be able to listen to the song in the computer or laptop that you have downloaded it to. You cannot burn the songs in a CD or transfer it to a portable media such as iPod. If you need to do so, some online merchants will bill you for this option. The iTunes Store allows you to burn the music you purchased for a limited number of times. Napster allows its subscribers to copy the song to a CD for $0.99 per song, and an additional monthly payment of $5 if you want to transfer the song to your portable player. And that is on top of the subscription that you have to pay. Unless you pay these fees, in the unfortunate event that your computer crashes, you have no way of recovering the DRM-crippled music file, forcing you to again buy online.

Second, DRM limits the time with which you can listen to the song. Some merchants would let you download or stream an unlimited number of music if you are subscribed to them. But these DRM-encrypted songs are only available if you are still a subscriber. Once your subscription is over, you can no longer play the music unless you subscribe again.

Third, you are not allowed to edit the song. Some people create remixes of the song they have bought. But since the songs cannot be edited, you cannot get excerpts or parts of the song.

Lastly, you are not allowed to convert the song you have purchased to any other format, or else you will be held liable. Not all file formats can be read by just any player. For example, right-protected WMA formats are for Windows Media Player and AAC for Apple, not all players support the files in these formats. You may want to try a different player, but you cannot do so because you are not allowed to convert it. You cannot copy the music having WMA format to your iPod because iPod will not be able to recognize the song. So with DRM, if you want to listen to the song, you would have to either buy songs you want placed in your iPod from iTunes, or buy another portable music player.

These are the reasons why many individuals and organizations support the DRM-free campaign. The music customers should have the rights to listen to the music they have purchased in ways that they want to. Currently, there are hundreds of web merchants that allow downloading of unencrypted music to give the buyers their money’s worth.