Digital Rights Management (DRM) is technology that serves to restrict how you can access digital content on your PC or other electronic device. In this case, the digital content I'm talking about would be music or video.

It is basically a form of copy protection. It is what keeps you from burning a CD of a song you downloaded from iTunes. It can help you create a DVD that you can play only once. It can allow you to play a presentation on your PC but not your laptop. It boils down to basically one thing... M O N E Y.

I'm all for artists making money off their work. I'm all for the labels that record them making money too. But, at some point, we have to realize that music and media want to be free... want to be seen... want to be heard. It is a natural thing. A story wants to be told and has a life unto itself.

In an increasingly digital age of media, we are fast approaching a time when you will have to pay multiple times for the same content.

Want to listen to the song on your PC? Screw you, Pay Me!

Want to listen to it in your car? Screw you, Pay Me!

Want to listen to it on your mobile phone? Screw you, Pay Me!

Want to burn it to a CD and take it with you? Uh, no. Go to hell. (Or pay me a monthly licensing fee.)

I can invision a day when we are simply billed a few pennies for every song or video we're "tuned into" and you'll get a "content statement" along with your telecom bill. I'm sure they'll even come up with a way to partially bill you if you decide to partake of something else halfway through.

We're on the preverbial slippery slope here, folks.

The bottom line is that any DRM technology has to alter your system to prevent you from doing things that the computer was designed to let you do... load, view and copy content of all sorts.

Sony Music's new DRM technology, most recently appearing on Van Zant's new album, Get Right with the Man, actually installs a freaking rootkit that introduces new security holes in your computer's operating system. Just what I need... some hacker breaking into my computer through my broadband connection and turning my network into one big spam-bot.

Why can't ISPs just pay for a damn ASCAP and SESAC license and be done with it?

Click here to read about the Sysinternals.com analysis of Sony's new package.

Click here to check out Sprint's new offering... $2.50 song downloads. Gee whiz, Sprint, don't do us any favors.

Here is Wikipedia's entry on Digital Rights Management.

UPDATE:  Apparently Sony has heard the noise and has responded with a Patch that will remove the offending rootkit. They have also made a statement to the effect that the rootkit posed no serious threat, blah... blah... blah...

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