Digital Rights Management: The What? The How? And the what's next?

The “What” of Digital Rights Management 

Digital Rights Management, aka DRM, is a broad term that in the simplest way possible is just some type of technology that controls access to copyrighted material. Have you ever seen the message “sorry this file is read only” pop up on your computer? Well, that would be an example of DRM. The manufacturer of the disc that you just put into your computer placed some kind of technology or security code on the CD to make it so you cannot simply burn the contents of it onto your computer and chuck the CD away. With the advancement of technology and society’s need for instant gratification, individuals are trying their best to obtain these copyrighted items for free. In the past, companies have sued the file sharing services and even the Internet Service Providers for piracy of copyrighted goods. However, with this advancement, CD’s are virtually dust in the wind and not all people wish to use iTunes. Therefore, the owners of these copyrighted materials are working on new ways of protecting their creative products without reverting back to the “stone age” of CDs.

How DRM Works? 

To get one thing straight, the piracy issues that have been going on is not solely within the music industry. Piracy issues refer to the stealing of a creative product that is protected by a copyright. This includes Music, Movies, EBooks, and even Email. So how does this protection technology work? Well, since I was trying to figure out how something works I figured that I would visit the website “How Stuff Works” in order to gain some insight in the topic. For music, companies have a few options. They may restrict the types of devices that can play the song, the length that that song can be played for, or a music label may include technology on a CD that will confuse a computers burner thus leaving it “un burnable.” Individuals also download movies straight off the internet with ease. Why pay for the movie ticket when you can watch it in the comfort of your own home. Well, movie companies have an issue with this and implement restrictions making the movies only playable on their own devices or devices they are associated with (they being download services such as iTunes). As well, an e-book server restricts access to, copying of and printing of material based on constraints set by the copyright holder of the content, and E-mails forwarding settings are being restricted to only those who are permitted to see. These companies concerned with the piracy of their copyright materials are working on ways to effectively monitor and control the piracy along with assuring the music and movie industry gets their fair share of the pie.

What's next and what does it mean for us?

I personally believe that what's next is a universal DSM method for protection that could be implemented along all types of copyrighted goods. What this means for us avid music listeners is a tighter hold on the availability and ease of music downloads. Pretty soon, the music playing on ones iPhone or iPod will be strictly limited to that user. While Apple has software like this on iTunes there are ways around it but in the future I see no way around it. However, I do foresee a new way of downloading and sharing music between people. Right now, I know people who utilize something called torrents which I would love to know more about but all I know is that it really does work. Therefore, I see a change in the way music is received and downloaded to computers because with the way it is going now, to simply build on the restrictions would be like creating a convoluted 500 piece puzzle that no one can solve.

Breaking News: A Mass Media Takeover

     Remember when picking up a newspaper was the most efficient, and exciting way to gather news? Look back to the 1990’s when the Internet was complex, slow, and almost useless. Personally, Myspace and Yahoo sports were the only websites I traveled to. Before we all knew it, the Internet exploded, bringing loads of advancement with it. I mean, look at me now, blogging away.

     …Wait? Did I just say “blogging?” What is that and why did the word just pop into my head? Well, whether or not you choose to admit it (or even like it) blogging is the thing of the future. Back in the 90’s, creating a website was like cracking the Da Vinci Code. Now, one can create an account on Blogger, or numerous other blogging template websites, and just Blog away. The skill level for blogging is equivalent to typing an email (as Journalism 2.0 states). Before I completely go off on a tangent, lets get some things straight. Journalism 2.0 describes blogging as “A frequently updated online journal, written in a conversational style, with entries displayed in reverse chronological order.“ They add that blogs contain “links to other news and information found on the Web complemented with analysis from the blogger,” and allow viewers to comment on the writings.

New York Times Home Page: Blog Section on the left

     Believe it or not, this relatively new phenomenon of journalism is making its way into respected news hubs such as USA today. Go ahead; click your Internet browser and type in the Washington Post, New York Times, or any other news outlet. You’ll find a blog section staring you in the face, asking to be clicked. 

     This “takeover,” is part of a revolution called a technological convergence. A convergence, as discussed in class, is the “coming together of computing and telecommunications in a digital media environment.” Therefore, a technological convergence is when specific types of media, such as print, audio, or video unite to form a new way of communication. Again, look to the past and see how far we have come; picking up the Washington Post in newspaper form was the only way to gather news. Now imagine if back then, the newspapers had little video clips on them that you can watch; that’s some serious convergence!

     The real question is, if these blogs are so easy to make, which they really are, can a blog really be a form of mass media? The answer is yes! And I will be firm with this answer so all you “nay sayers” out there, please dispute my argument, I'm always down for a battle. The facts are that there are roughly 150 million blogs on the Internet, and a new blog is created every half a second (http://www.adminesolutions.com/blog/interesting-facts-about-blogs/)! That’s wild, I know! With the vast amount of blogs out there, some have to be credible, right? Right. As stated before the most respected news hubs have their own blog sections on their website. As a document from Harvard Law states, there is “a power shift from the producers of media to the people formerly known as the audience.” This movement from people being the target audience to the audience targeting the people with news is easily facilitated by blogs.

1.6 billion results for the google search "food blog"

     The sheer number of blogs that are out there is a testament to their effectiveness. If Blogs didn’t excite people, or didn’t stimulate conversation, they wouldn’t exist. If USA today didn’t believe in the power of blogging, they wouldn’t have a political blog section on their website. The Social Science dictionary defines mass media as “Forms of communication designed to reach a vast audience without any personal contact between the senders and receivers. Examples would include newspapers, magazines, video recordings, radio and television.” Right now, I am typing on my blog and with a click of a button it can be posted on the Internet for millions of people to view freely. Matter of fact, billions of people use the internet daily. The amazing thing about blogs are that they are so specific. There’s literally a blog about anything for anything. Say you are a food enthusiast; all you need to do is type in Google “food blog” and look at the 1.6 billion results that Google spits out.

     The Huffington Post, TMZ, the Business Insider, and Engadget are the top four most visited blogs on the Internet. The Huffington post for example, is an Internet newspaper which utilizes blogs as a way of communicating news, they currently average 54 million viewers a month (http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs). If reaching 54 million people with the most current information isn’t considered Mass Media, then I guess I lack the understanding of the word “Mass.”

     In conclusion, as the world turns and technology advances, keep an eye out for the world of blogging to continue to explode. Who knows, maybe you are reading the blog of the next source of Mass Media!

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment.

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