With Music Piracy On The Rise, Should We Revisit DRM?

DRM or Digital Rights Management is the bogey man of the digital age. Proponents push the agenda then fall over themselves tracking back; opponents view it as the equivalent of an Internet nuclear winter. But with piracy on the rise and “hactivism” moving the piracy agenda forward, how do companies and individuals that invest in creating digital media get a return on their investment? Is DRM, by any stretch of the imagination, something that can help in this challenge? Let’s start by looking at a brief summary of DRM.