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19 March 2008

DRM gets another lease of life

730214_data_security_1Reports in the Financial Times today suggest that Apple, massively influential in the music industry through its iTunes store, is about to shake things up again with a scheme allowing unlimited downloads from the store in return for a monthly fee.

Given how zealously Apple likes to retain control over its technology, and how this is mirrored by the record industry's love of control over its content, it's highly unlikely that the resulting service will be DRM free because Apple will want/need some means of dictating how long users can keep hold of downloaded music. Charles Arthur in the Guardian shares this opinion.

If this service goes ahead, it is likely to give DRM (digital rights management) a new lease of life. DRM is also used for other new and popular services such as BBC iPlayer and the movie rental facility that US users of iTunes can access. Whilst this technology is not exactly liked by many, it continues to be popular amongst content owners as way of stopping (ok, trying to stop) people from sharing their content. For short-term access and rental services, the technology is ideal. So, DRM, we won't be saying goodbye to you any time soon...

Posted at 04:37 PM |

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