What Is DRM And Do I Need It?
Posted August 1, 2008 by Mister Knowitall

Ted from Eagle Rock writes: Recently, my kids have been talking about DRM and how bad it is. I don’t want to look tragically uncool by asking them these questions. What is DRM? Is it on my computer? If it is, can I get rid of it or do I need it?

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. It’s basically a catch-all category for software that controls how you use and/or copy other software or files. It runs the gamut from Windows Genuine Advantage, which checks to make sure you’re not running a pirated copy of Windows, to the mechanisms used in some music files to try and make sure that only the person who bought the file plays it.

Is DRM on your computer? If you’re running Linux, probably not. Most software created for Linux is open source and the philosophies that are behind the development of Linux and the open source movement stand in stark contrast to DRM. Open Source advocates freedom and DRM exists to restrict freedom.

If you’re running Mac OS X, there’s been a rumor over the years that it’s built into the kernel (the core element of an operating system), but that’s been debunked. You will however find DRM in iTunes. Music and movies bought from the iTunes store will generally have DRM to prevent them from being played in iTunes or on an iPod, and they have limits on the number of computers you can have copies on and/or the number of times you can burn them to CD/DVD.

If you’re running Windows, you’ll generally find DRM in the Windows Genuine Advantage component and in Windows Media Player for playing certain songs and videos.

What’s worth noting is that the DRM in Windows Media Player and iTunes applies to specific movie and video files that have forms of DRM built into them so that they cannot be played on players that do not support that form of DRM. There are plenty of music and video files you can download online, legally, that do not have DRM built into them and merely require a player that can play their particular format.

But DRM doesn’t come entirely from operating system manufacturers. A Sony VAIO I bought in 2005 used up over 10% of my available memory and slowed down the computer’s start-up speed to load DRM software so I could play music I bought from Sony’s music store. But I hadn’t bought any music from them, nor did I plan to. But instead of loading this software on demand, when it was needed, it was loaded by default at start-up, noticeably slowing down my computer.

About two months later, Sony took a huge public relations black eye when it was exposed that their music CD’s were installing hidden software on people’s computers without their knowledge.

So, what is DRM? It’s software that’s meant to force you to be a good little boy or girl and not use pirated music or software. Do you need it? Only if the software or music you want is locked up with DRM, there’s no other way to get it, and you really want it.