Sam Streeter, Alyson Lane, and Matt Menard

A systematic approach to copyright protection for digital media

Prevents illegal distribution of paid content over the internet

Earliest usage of DRM was in 1983

You Tube Video

DRM technology focuses on making it impossible to steal web content in the first place

It is a much surer approach to catch copyright violators opposed to the “hit or miss” strategies used after the fact◦ Limewire and other P2P programs use this “hit or

miss” approach

Embedded in different media files ◦ Audio CDs

Used mostly on promotional CDs but was a failure◦ Movies

License agreements were signed to exclude digital outputs that could extract high-quality copies of the film

◦ Internet Music Found most often using iTunes and Napster which

limits the amount of times a purchased song can be transferred from the purchaser’s computer

Four components to the DRM software:◦ Protection toolkit: users can decide on their own access

and encryption rules◦ Distribution toolkit: users can create interfaces for

content distribution◦ Consumer toolkit: verifies authorization before content is

distributed◦ Back Office component: tracks usage and licensing

Programs such as iTunes and Napster purchase this software◦ iTunes program is called FairPlay

DRM programs are made up of secrets to prevent people from playing the music on unauthorized systems, however, the secrets often get stolen so companies have to constantly update them.

DRM has prevented many college students from illegally downloading and copying music

Has forced students to purchase music◦ Many students are being tracked and penalized

for their illegal downloading

6 people have been sued for illegal downloading/copyright infringement◦ 4 students in 2003 and 2 students in 2005

Bentley informed of students in Jan. 2005 but the names were not given out

Official subpoena was served on March 30 and the Bentley was forced to reveal names

In 2003 over 700 students were hit with lawsuits for illegal downloading and copyright infringement

The minimum penalty in a lawsuit is $750 per work infringed

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is the association that finds and prosecutes illegal downloaders

"We must continue to let individuals know that they bear responsibility for illegally stealing the work of those who make the music. In a world that is becoming more and more connected through the wonders of digital technology, students need to understand that just because someone else's property or creations can be obtained easily and freely without anyone seemingly knowing, there are consequences because it is stealing.“

-RIAA General Counsel Steven Marks

DRM free Can be played on all players, including the

iPod Trying to compete with iTunes who controls

85% of the market One song sells for 99 cents Forced iTunes to drop their price to 99 cents

as well Has provoked thoughts that fewer

restrictions on music will actually encourage people to buy more music, not less

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has made a call for the end of DRM. Jobs says Apple would sell only DRM-free music on iTunes if it could.

Only 22 songs are purchased from iTunes for every iPod sold. The reason they can’t make their music DRM-free is because of

the agreements made with the big four music companies. 90% of music is sold on CD’s which have no DRM software and

can be copied and shared any number of times, sparking the question of what are the benefits of making only 10% of their music DRM encoded.

Legislators have told Apple that it has to make iTunes compatible with competitors because it dominates the digital music market.

Norway went to the extent of declaring the iPod illegal because forces users into buying music only from iTunes.

However, until the big four companies agree to let Apple sell their music DRM-free, there is nothing that Apple can do to satisfy countries such as Norway.

http://www.samlss13.googlepages.com