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.