DRM: Good or Bad?

What is the value of a bit? It seems that going after folks who have traded songs or movies online is a huge expenditure of effort and money. Is DRM-protected content the way to go? If you don’t agree, propose another method for the distribution of digital multimedia so that content creators can still be compensated.

DRM, according to Abelson (2008), stands for digital rights management and DRM-protected content is content that has a wide range of restrictions to keep people from using that information in any way that would be illegal. Reading about DRM in Abelson’s book I learned that just like everything else, DRM has both its advantages and disadvantages.

I think it’s good that someone has come up with a way to help stop those from illegally downloading massive amounts of black market music or those trying to sell copies of illegally downloaded movies, we definitely needed some system to help stop those people since it became so easy with the rise of the internet. On the other hand, DRM and its restrictions may be a little too much, even though it is doing good. I would be disappointed if I wasn’t allowed to go onto a website, like Pandora for example, and just listen to music without having to buy it beforehand just to see if I like the song or the music that I like. I don’t see any problem with this if I don’t plan on somehow illegally stealing those songs, but with DRM in place this wouldn’t be allowed because the restrictions would stop my computer from playing that music. Stuff like that I think has gone too far and where I think the DRM system breaks down. Overall I think DRM is a good thing because without it people have that much of an easier time stealing and copying whatever they want whenever without having any obstacles in the way and that ultimately hurts everyone. I think the only suggestion I would have is to continue working with the DRM system to make positive change that make more restrictions to make it harder for those to encrypt and work around the codes but at the same time have less restrictions on things like not being able to view a video or listen to a song online. The only problem to this suggestion is that I don’t even know if it’s possible because if it is they probably could have come up with that system by now; maybe one day they will.