2002 Technology of the Year: Digital rights management

Headlines in 2002 were dominated by Palladium and other dark visions of DRM (digital rights management) yet to come. But while we were wringing our hands over the limitations the hardware of the future might impose, copy prevention, identity verification, subscription enforcement, and other DRM technologies found their way into the high-tech mainstream. The point of the wedge is already in place in existing consumer devices, software and peripherals – the only question is how far content holders will be permitted to drive it.

The wealthiest and most influential proponents of DRM are music and motion picture/television distributors. In 2002, copy-protected music CDs stepped out of marketing trials and into the bins at Wal-Mart. Early, buggy versions of the technology evolved further during 2002, resulting in discs that play fine in your car but can be read by few, if any, CD-ROM drives.

As a concession to those using PCs as entertainment hubs,some discs have PC-readable data tracks containing low-quality versions of the songs. The catch is that the songs are encrypted; you have to use theWindows-only player software to hear what’s on the CD.

Movie studios refused to buy into online content distribution, frustrating carriers’ and service providers’ attempts to deliver on the promise of movies over broadband. In 2002, new versions of client and server software from Microsoft and RealNetworks finally gave the studios what they demanded: total, revocable, end-to-end control of content. At long last, you can download pay-per-view movies through your DSL line. But when the file hits your disk, the studio decides how many times you can watch it. After a set number of viewings or a fixed period of time, the downloaded movie won’t play.

The media player software tracks and reports on your viewing habits, with no pretense of viewer anonymity. PC player software has access to every file on your hard drive, using encrypted streams to communicate with remote servers. There is nothing but conscience to prevent the collection of information that you’d rather not share with Sony or AOL Time Warner.

Interestingly, the trusted computing hardware that’s so feared by activists isn’t likely to have much effect on DRM, but trusted computing will be a net asset to businesses. IT has very little control over what’s connected to the internal network and how company systems are being used, problems that a pervasive trust infrastructure would help solve. Commercial software and media giants have proven they don’t need hardware protection to lock down their content; software gets the job done nicely. And as Microsoft proved in 2002, software-based DRM can be given sharper teeth any time and without the user’s knowledge.

To keep a handle on DRM’s effects, IT should embrace trusted computing, but require that vendors detail the measures they use to protect and track commercial software and content.