Digital Rights Management > Summary

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a class of technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders, and individuals with the intent to control the use of digital content and devices after sale; there are, however, many competing definitions. With first-generation DRM software, the intent is to control copying; with second-generation DRM, the intent is to control executing, viewing, copying, printing and altering of works or devices. The term is also sometimes referred to as copy protection, copy prevention, and copy control, although the correctness of doing so is disputed. DRM is a set of access control technologies. DRM is used by many companies, including Amazon, AT&T, AOL, Apple Inc., Google, BBC, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Sony, and Valve Corporation use digital rights management. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in the United States to impose criminal penalties on those who make available technologies whose primary purpose and function are to circumvent content protection technologies.

Description courtesy of Wikipedia. Photo: System Lock by Yuri Samoilov available under CC BY 3.0.