As I write this post, one of my colleagues told me that DRM is not popular anymore. In a lot of ways, he’s right. Which is precisely why it bothered me to no end when I read a piece in Slashdot where someone found that DRM technology is still embedded in Windows 7. Further research on this topic lead me to a more worrying finding. Vista, with its wider user base, also contains a DRM system called the Protected Media Path. It will try to stop DRM-restricted content from playing while unsigned software is running in order to prevent the unsigned software from accessing the content, – sometimes even causing the computer to crash under some certain scenarios.

Like a lot of other things in life, DRM technology was created for a good cause. Basically, it is there to protect any kind of intellectual properties from being pirated for someone else’s gain. Taken from Wikipedia, it refers to any technology that attempt to control use of digital media by preventing access, copying or conversion to other formats by end users. It ranges from something as simple as a watermark on an image file to a protected audio file in a certain format like AAC or WMA.

In the recent times, it has been proven again and again that the implementation of DRM technologies more often than not resulted in unwanted consequences. In 2005, Sony BMG introduced new DRM technology which installed DRM software on users’ computers without clearly notifying the user or requiring confirmation. The plan backfired in the form of outraged customers and even class actions against Sony when it was later found that the installed software included a rootkit, which created a severe security vulnerability others could exploit. More recently, last year Spore became the most pirated game in 2008 just because it used a DRM technology called Securom.

Nowadays, ( correct me if I’m wrong on this ) the practice on using DRM technologies is frowned upon by most of everyday computer users. Steve Jobs himself has called on the music industry to eliminate DRM in an open letter titled Thoughts on Music. Since then, iTunes has started to sell DRM-free 256 kbit/s (up from 128 kbit/s) AAC encoded music from EMI.

This brings us to the big issue : Why did Microsoft still chose to include DRM in its Windows 7 ? There are two possible answers here : first, that they have some certain agreements with other software publishers to protect their Windows-based software from being tinkered on; or second, that it was an honest mistake by the Slashdot writer, – that his problem was somehow started by some other issue other than DRM ( as suggested by some of the post’s comments ). For their own benefits, I do hope that it’s the second answer.

If you are someone who use computer extensively like me to work, let’s hope that this will end soon.  But if you are someone who is planning to publish your work with DRM, I urge you to think carefully before you proceed.  Do the research, and decide whether it will be good for your business or not.

There really is no easy answer for this question.  And while there are many ways we could approach this issue, I would suggest that first of all, you ask yourself this question :  What kind of industry the domain of your job is ?  That is, what do you do for a living ?  Could you benefit in any ways by engaging in a, – or several, social networks ?

Now, I am going to assume that the readers of this blog are surely familiar with the concept of social networks.  At the risk of being redundant, let it be said once again that in short, social network is the place where you socialize online, – being a network where there are interactive communications, mostly almost instantly delivered, thanks to the increasingly popular AJAX-based sites.  The most famous of them include some well-known names like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

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Going back to our question, I believe that there are business fields where you don’t exactly need to do some serious social networking.  For example, a plumber will need to dedicate his free time more in increasing his knowledge of his trade, rather than replying to some conversation threads in Plurk.  Or a London taxi driver will risk tarnishing a well-known legend if he spends his time in front of the computer instead of studying the streets of London until he knows it like the back of this hand.  Still, I am also of the opinion that even these kind of professions may gain a useful thing or two if they can dedicate a little bit of their time to socialize online.  Who knows, maybe our taxi driver may got a much newer and complete version of London map from his online contact.  The key is, knowing how much time do you need to spend, and act accordingly…

On the other hand, there are some professionals who absolutely need to be a member of some ( if not most of the ) social networks.  An obvious example would be web developers, programmers and writers.  Being a writer, I could tell from first-hand experience that you are only as good as your published works are.  These days, the fastest and simplest way to build your credibility is by publishing your work online.  If you’re good at what you do, people will recognize your worth and start bringing some projects in.  In this context, social networking helps by bringing a badly-needed traffic to your blog, – which is the place where you mainly write.

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So I hope it’s obvious by now that the question of how much should you engage in social networking will depend on how much your job need it.  This is not to say that it’s the only thing you should consider, though.  Blogger Deb of freelancewritinggigs.com publish some excellent criteria on this issue, which you can read here.

All in all, I believe that this is the main reason of social networking exists :  to help people gain edge in what they do.  Do so if it’s part of your job, but do yourself a favor and avoid the trap of idleness which almost always happen when a person is addicted to social networking….