What’s Wrong with Digital Rights Management?

The main problem with DRM under the DMCA is that while the law may be well-intentioned, the DRM software used to enforce the law is not. In fact, software controls on content, whether consented to or not, are, in effect, a means to circumvent the legal process of prosecuting violations of copyright law in the courts by using a commercially provided, electronic private police force instead. In other words, software controls are a form of vigilante action; therefore, the likelihood is that such software will err on the side of its owner. This is so much so that copy protection code can prohibit a user from lawfully using the data on alegitimately purchased disk. For example, certain restrictions formally imposed by iTunes can interfere with a simple data transfer from one PC to another within a user’s own home or, worse, can prevent a user from restoring their data in the event of a hard disk disaster. Moreover, DRM software can inadvertently turn innocent people into criminals, as it did in the case of Jon Johansen, a Norwegian teenager who wrote a code-crack that allowed him to view his own DVDs in countries other than Norway. His “crime” turned out to be trespassing on his own property!

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