Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is an important technology for publishers to understand as they begin to offer electronic versions of their products. Here is a gentle introduction, without a lot of the controversy and fluff that surrounds this sometimes confusing topic.
DRM is simply electronic copyright protection.
The Digital in the title refers to computerized content, be it online HTML documents, word processing files, PDFs, Flash files, or any other electronic file.
Digital content, being much easier to copy than traditional printed content, is far more prone to copyright infringement and abuse.
There are 2 types of DRM, soft and hard.
Soft DRM is analogous to the methods used in print today. Copyright information is clearly embedded in the file, but there is nothing physical to prevent copying. A common soft DRM method is to simply embed Watermarks in the content pages.
Hard DRM is implemented as a computer technology that helps to prevent unauthorized use.
There is no such thing as foolproof DRM. All rights technologies can be unlocked, sometimes called “hacked”.
However, DRM can be made sufficiently complex to discourage copying by typical users.
There is considerable opposition to DRM by many “Freedom of information” advocacy groups and in response some large content providers have made their products DRM-free.
Customer service problems can increase due to DRM-related difficulties.
There are a number of competing DRM technologies. Fortunately for publishers and consumers, a few are beginning to dominate, such as Adobe Content Server (ACS4).
To learn more, here are some excellent links to follow:
http://www.drmwatch.com
http://www.drmnews.com
http://www.drmblog.com
http://www.peterindia.net/DRM.html
Another introduction to DRM:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/drm.htm
A very good primer on ebooks:
http://activitypress.com/2007/10/10/a-basic-ebook-primer/
A current comparison of ebook formats that includes some DRM information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats
The generally recognized formal body for digital publishing:
http://www.idpf.org
A controversial review of current eReaders:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/181226/the_best_of_todays_ebook_readers.html
HTH,
Keith
PS: Despite all the negativity out there in the industry about DRM, it really isn’t reasonable to expect commercial publishers to forgo their intellectual property rights.