Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a set of access control technologies for restricting the use of digital content and devices. DRM is used by content providers (such as publishers, music labels and film studios) to protect their intellectual property from unauthorized copying and distribution. DRM technologies allow content providers to control how users access and use digital content.
DRM technologies have been controversial because they can be used to restrict users’ rights to use digital content in ways that the content provider does not approve of. For example, DRM technologies can be used to prevent users from making copies of digital content, to prevent users from transferring digital content to other devices, or to prevent users from accessing digital content on certain devices.
Content providers often argue that DRM technologies are necessary to protect their intellectual property and to prevent piracy. However, many users argue that DRM technologies unfairly restrict their rights to use digital content.
There are a variety of DRM technologies that are used to control digital content. The most common DRM technologies are digital watermarks, digital fingerprints, and encryption.
Digital watermarks are invisible markings that are added to digital content to identify the content’s owner. Digital fingerprints are unique identifying characteristics of digital content that can be used to track the content’s use. Encryption is a process of transforming readable data into an unreadable format.
DRM technologies can be used to control how users access and use digital content in a number of ways. For example, DRM technologies can be used to prevent users from making copies of digital content, to prevent users from transferring digital content to other devices, or to prevent users from accessing digital content on certain devices.
DRM technologies can also be used to control how users can use digital content. For example, DRM technologies can be used to restrict users from printing digital content, to restrict users from copying digital content, or to restrict users from sharing digital content.
Some content providers use DRM technologies to control how users can access digital content. For example, some content providers require users to login to a website in order to access digital content. Other content providers use DRM technologies to control how users can access digital content on mobile devices.