Ok we all know that DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. In clear, it means: something to avoid piracy, that is illegal copies. Motivations are manyfold, but say that I want to trust the noble one: protect artist rights (yes, they do need to eat and no, they are not all making a s*&^ load of money when they release an album). Alright, so what do we have with DRM? A couple of software ideas revolving around encryption, keys, licenses etc. Nothing really new since the first network security mechanisms and since e-commerce has been secured online. From a user perspective, it's really a pain though: you cannot play a CD if you don't have the right equipment, or DVD, etc. I mean, that's pretty much the perspective, and also the opportunity for vendors like Sony to sell you replacement devices (that you would not need otherwise). So expect that the forthcoming years will be painful because you be forced to store a lot of licenses, passwords, etc. and also because you will have to buy new electronic gadgets and hi fi systems (if your PC cannot do it all) to access to your music and videos.

Isn't it all amazing? DRM as defined today is pure dream and speculation! Think of it: the main assumption is that you are playing (rendering) the protected art on a conventional device, say a TV set or a stereo. If you want to break the protection, you don't need to be a software guru to crack a software protection, you just have to rewire the input of your device to a PC and record that. Rewiring does not even need welding, it may just be a matter of plugging a cable in.

DRM does not exist unless we all have implants that allow our brain, ears and/or eyes to decode signals.