2009 or 1984?

Digital Rights Management (DRM): “technologies used by content owners to control access to data such as software, music, movies, and hardware” (Wikipedia, 2006)

Defenders of DRM argue that this technology enables content providers a way to protect against copyright infringement. Its critics think otherwise. What if a University professor is unable to use a clip from a song for educational purposes because the DRM restricts it? Does this not violate fair-use provisions of copyright law?

Furthermore, these technologies enable providers a much more intimate relationship between their content and our computers. By using a backdoor security method, providers have the opportunity to abuse this technology and “spy” on unsuspecting users. By imbedding DRMs deep in the product’s “rootkit” (programs that can only be altered by the provider of the product), many security and privacy issues arise. Potential flaws in these DRMs can lead to the formation of security holes that can be exploited by malicious software. The DRM technology opens a whole new can of (viral) worms.

Amazon.com made headlines earlier this year when they decided to remove books from their digital reader, the Kindle, due to apparent copyright issues… this is where the story gets good. Ironically, the books removed were George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. The controversy does not arise because of why Amazon removed the books, but how they removed the books. The companies technological ability to remove the books is what is causing the public outcry. Will companies one day abuse these powers to reach into our computers?

Is there certain legal ramifications attached to this type of behavior? Are digital books any different than physical books? If you buy a book from Borders, they do not have the power to take it back. Obviously, many issues can arise from this sort of behavior. The fact of the manner is, yes, ebooks are different than physical books. When someone uses a Kindle, they are agreeing to its terms of service, which gives the company full rights to “modify, suspend, or discontinue” any of the books the service provides. The important thing is that people are aware of the awesome power corporations have regarding online commerce. I am not saying these technologies should not be used. In fact, this is a great way to limit file-sharing, but I do believe that safeguards should be put into place to ensure that companies do not abuse this technology.

Hopefully Big Brother will not hear about the DRM technology.