UPDATE 2019-02-07: In October 2018, the Library of Congress added an exemption to DRM law making it legal for people to break DRM in order to maintain or repair the hardware that they own. Listen to the section about hardware for more information.
Episode Summary
00:00:00 | Update
00:00:25 | Intro
00:01:01 | Definition of DRM
Digital Rights Management
Restrict usage of proprietary copyrighted works00:01:44 | Goals of DRM
Prevent piracy
Keep users in one company’s ecosystem
Protect corporate documents from unauthorized access
Region lockingThe weird economics behind Steam prices around the world | PC Gamer
00:09:32 | DRM in Games and Software
Product keys
Requiring the disc to be inserted at runtime
Tying game to an online account
Building the game to download later sections from a server as the player progresses
Introducing errors or insurmountable challenges that activate if a copy detects it is illegitimate00:15:02 | DRM in Ebooks
Encrypt file using customer’s username and password
Force users to log in through Adobe before they can read the file00:16:22 | DRM in Video
DVDs are encrypted, but the technology developed in 1996 has been cracked for a long time
Blu-rays are more difficult
Watermarks
Streaming00:21:07 | DRM in Music
CDs can be easily ripped
CD-ROMs with DRM (don’t conform to the CD standard) were used for a while, but the industry moved away from them
Nowadays music purchased digitally comes in standard formats, no DRM
Previously iTunes, Napster, Sony, Wal-Mart, etc sold music with DRM
StreamingApple 'On Schedule' to Terminate Music Downloads by 2019
00:25:05 | DRM in Photos
Watermarks
Releasing low resolution versions of photos00:26:43 | DRM in Hardware
Proprietary designs that lock out competitors (Keurig refills, Phillips Hue bridge, lightning chargers)
John Deere and car manufacturers arguing that owners of vehicles cannot copy or modify the code that runs them, even for repairIn Groundbreaking Decision, Feds Say Hacking DRM to Fix Your Electronics Is Legal - Motherboard00:31:11 | Laws and Licensing
DMCA, USA
Outlaws the use or dissemination of technology for circumventing DRM
Reverse-engineering of DRM systems is permitted (circumvention necessary to make it interoperable with other software)
Exception allowed for research, but it is vague and so is not reassuring to researchers; several high-profile cases of researchers declining to publish their findings out of fear of being prosecuted under DMCA
EU Copyright Directive
Similar to DMCA, but only applies to offenses with commercial purposes
The resale of copyrighted software is permitted
The GNU General Public License has a provision that states anyone can break DRM on GPL software without breaking the law
Creative Commons prohibits the use of DRM in their Baseline Rights00:36:18 | Problems with DRM
Stifle innovation and competition
Increases barriers to people making fair use works
Artificially locks people into ecosystems
Prevents the consumer from creating backups/accessing the work on their terms
Works can become permanently inaccessible if DRM scheme changes or the company goes out of business
Pirates find ways around DRM, so the people being harmed are legitimate customers
For passive media at the very least, there is always the analog hole
Motion picture industry wanted to create legislation to close the analog hole by requiring recording devices to detect when they are recording copyrighted material
Can increase piracy rates if legitimate customers are driven away
Makes it extremely difficult for libraries to lend out digital content
Requiring an online account means there is no recourse for privacy-minded consumers
The contents of a user’s library can be changed without their prior knowledge
Accelerates hardware obsolescence
Even when a work is available cross-platform, DRM often leaves out open platforms
DVDs on Linux
Encrypted Media Extensions in browsersAn open letter to the W3C Director, CEO, team and membership | Electronic Frontier Foundation
01:00:11 | Outro
Related episodes
The Extra Dimension #9: Encryption › The Nexus
The Extra Dimension #20: Copyright Law › The Nexus
The Extra Dimension #29: The Access Economy and the End of Ownership › The NexusAttributions
Kevin MacLeod [Official] - Inspired - incompetech.com - YouTubeCopyright
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