Lately, a good deal of the buzz surrounding digital rights management technologies (DRM) has been about removing DRM from media, particularly from music. In a now-famous pronouncement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs claimed his company would abandon music DRM technology “in a heartbeat” if only it weren’t demanded by record labels. In additional to creating the well-known compatibility gulf between iTunes and iPods on one side and virtually every other portable music player on the other, DRM is seen as a burden and an impediment to consumers: it has been argued digital music fans would by more music if only DRM didn’t make it so awkward to use. Still others slam DRM for restricting consumers’ fair use rights. Even Bill Gates has lamented the state of DRM technology.
