There are so many ideas, entertainment, thoughts, advantages, secrets, power, and knowledge that could be held in intellectual knowledge. Many of the ideas that are held in intellectual property include many items that we haven’t even heard about. Usually, once we hear about them, they can then be protected by law. Otherwise, it is nearly impossible to create a law that directly affects it. On the other hand, intellectual property in the form of entertainment, such as music, theatre, or literature, is protected by law. It is also protected by other things such as Digital Rights Management, known as DRM. DRM is a very controversial trait to legally downloaded music from online stores. I personally loathe DRM, for it hinders the usability of the songs that you actually paid for. Also, I feel that this creates a need for people to illegally download music so that they can do whatever they want to with their music. With iTunes music, you can only play downloaded music from the iTunes store in Apple software. They now offer a deal in which you can pay a certain extra amount for DRM-free music. Most people don’t want to pay extra for it, they just want it to come DRM-free for the initially paid 99 cents. When you buy the CD at a music store, the music is DRM-free and you can put the music wherever you want to.
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This article highlights many of the problems with Digital Rights Management (DRM), specifically how it impairs the users ability to use their music in the way they desire. DRM sets up many virtual blocks that not only prohibit a user from doing certain things, it annoys and frustrates them to a point where they switch to illegal sharing of music so they can avoid the headache that is DRM altogether. DRM essentially is going against its original purpose because instead of helping the artists that created the music it hurts them by drawing consumers away from spending money on their products. If an average consumer is going to spend money on music when they essentially can already get it for free then they want that purchase to benefit them, and DRM takes away from this benefit. The intent of DRM is good and necessary, but its applications are not worth the opportunity cost that consumers face when purchasing DRM protected media.
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