The right way to do DRM

For those of you who have never heard of the acronym, DRM, it stands for Digital Rights Management. It is the technology put on files so that you are restricted with what you can do about it. The most widely known DRM software is Apple's FairPlay which they put on every song you buy from the iTunes Music Store. It makes sure that the songs you buy can only play on specific computers you say they can all while putting a cap on the number of computers that you give the okay for.

I personally don't like DRM. If I had my way nothing would restrict how I use the media I purchase. If I buy a song I feel like I should be able to use it wherever I want, not how Apple specifically wants me to. Same goes for DVDs, etc.

But the media companies, reprsented by the RIAA and the MPAA, don't like that. They prefer to restrict what you can do with the stuff you buy. The argument is that if they don't you will either freely share the media you buy with the whole world or you will steal it. There has also been arguments lately that DRM is there to make it so that you pay multiple times for the same thing (e.g., a movie) for each way you want to use it (e.g., on DVD, your iPod, your cell phone, etc.). I suspect both are true.

If the iTunes Music Store didn't sell stuff per song or so much cheaper than a full CD, I would always buys the original media since I can do more with CDs. But that is not the case so I use iTMS and allow myself to be locked into iTunes and my iPod (until I burn a copy to CD). But I would prefer to not have any restrictions.

I new company named streamburst has come up with an interesting way to help prevent theft while not forcing DRM on to the customer. They tack on a five second clip at the start of the media (all video at the moment) stating who bought it. That covers the shame aspect of theft. They also add a digital watermark so they can know who shared their media. That gives accountability.

But otherwise you are allowed to do what you want with it. I can burn the videos they have to DVD, put it on my iPod, whatever I want. I could even give the file to other people, but they would have to watch a video that states I bought it and it would be traceable to me. I think that is a very reasonable thing to do.