Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Technology Protection Measures (TPM): An Introduction

There is some confusion between the differences of Digital Rights Management (DRM), and Technology Protection Measures (TPM).

The truth is both terms work with one another, and fuse together to give the Entertainment Industry control over your digital media.  Yes, that latest album you purchased, it does belong to you, but they want to control what you do with it.

In respect to a song it would be: how you play it, where you play it on, how many times you can play it, your ability to copy it and distribute it, the ability to sample it (perhaps for a home video, or education purpose), and etc...

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

DRM effectively controls your ability to use digital media, be it CDs, DVDs, MP3s, etc.  By controlling where the digital media can be read, or played, they have effective control over the usage of your their intellectual property.

For example, when you legally purchase a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), it has restrictions that mandate it only to be played on certain DVD players. This is because the entertainment industry has partitioned the world into different regions, where certain DVDs would work in the respective region they were produced for. Also DVDs employ a Content Scrambling System (CSS) which puts 'lock' on a DVD, preventing it to be read from an unknown source. DVD player manufacturers would have to purchase a 'CSS key' from the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA) in order to be able 'unlock' and read these DVDs. Thus by partitioning and selecting permitted users of DVDs, they effectively ensured that legal DVDs were being produced and circulated.

Technology Protection Measures
The problem with DRM is that it was not backed by any laws, so users are able to freely 'crack' the lock and access the media files.  The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a division under the United Nations created to promote Intellectual Property, in 1996 produced what is sometimes known as the Internet treaties: the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).

WIPO Copyright Treaty:

Article 11: Obligations concerning Technology Measures

Contracting Parties shall provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures that are used by authors in connection with the exercise of their rights under this Treaty or the Berne Convention and that restrict acts, in respect of their works, which are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted by law.

Article 12: Obligations concerning Rights Management Information

(1) Contracting Parties shall provide adequate and effective legal remedies against any person knowingly performing any of the following acts knowing, or with respect to civil remedies having reasonable grounds to know, that it will induce, enable, facilitate or conceal an infringement of any right covered by this Treaty or the Berne Convention:

(i) to remove or alter any electronic rights management information without authority;

WPPT Articles 18 & 19 are the same as the WCT Articles 11 & 12 respectively.

Participating members of these treaties are required to adopt these laws, and well interestingly enough though Malaysia is not a member these laws are actually in place!

Malaysia Copyright Act 1987 (warning PDF download)

Article 36: Infringements
3. Copyright is infringed by any person who circumvents or causes any other person to circumvent any effective technological measures that are used by authors in connection with the exercise of their rights under this Act and that restrict acts, in respect of their works, which are not authorized by the authors concerned or permitted by law.

The United States is a signatory of both the WCT and WPPT, and thus under pressure from the Entertainment Industries implemented such laws into place into what is now known as the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Conclusion

I hope people now better understand the difference between the two, DRM and TPM.  DRM protects the media, while TPM protects the DRM.  DRM would be useless without the legal backing of TPMs.

I have actually been writing a paper about the issue of DRM and TPM and the positions nations around the world have taken, so stay tuned till I post the link.  Though the paper is turning out quite long and it will take a while, perhaps I'll start publishing drafts that people can read.

Before I end this, I would like to say that my position on DRM and TPM is that they are BAD.  Though it may be deemed reasonable to protect Intellectual Property, the US DMCA gives excessive powers to holders allowing for abuse.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation had documented the problems with the DMCA in their paper: "Unintended Consequences: Five Years under the DMCA"

In the meantime can read a paper published in the UK by the All Party  Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) has released its inquiry into Digital Rights Management detailing recommendations to the UK Parliament on the issue regarding DRMs, or perhaps turn to my favorite encyclopedia, Wikipedia.