Chapter 6. Understanding DRM

As you’ve learned, piracy is a significant issue in the world of digital music. The folks who create and own the music want to keep folks from downloading their property with proper authorization and payment, and one way to do that is to enlist technology. Specifically, we’re talking about something called digital rights management, or DRM—technology that limits how a digital file can be downloaded and used.

The problem with DRM is that it can also inhibit how regular listeners use the files they’ve legally downloaded. In trying to stop the criminals, DRM often makes life more difficult for us law-abiding citizens, too.