Digital Rights Management
Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies attempt to control what you can and can't do with the media and hardware you've purchased.
- Bought an ebook from Amazon, but can't read it on your ebook reader of choice? That's DRM.
- Bought a DVD or Blu-Ray, but can't copy the video onto your portable media player? That's DRM.
- Bought a video-game, but can't play it today because the manufacturer's "authentication servers" are off-line? That's DRM.
- Bought a smart-phone, but can't use the applications or the service provider you want on it? That's DRM.
Corporations claim that DRM is necessary to fight copyright infringement online and keep consumers safe from viruses. But there's no evidence that DRM helps fight either of those. Instead, DRM helps big business stifle innovation and competition, by making it easy to quash "unauthorized" uses of media and technology.
DRM has proliferated thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA), which sought to outlaw any attempt to bypass DRM.
Fans shouldn't be treated like criminals, and companies shouldn't get an automatic veto over user choice and innovation. EFF has led the effort to free the iPhone and other smart phones, is working to uncover and explain the restrictions around new hardware and software, has fought for the right to make copies of DVDs, and sued Sony-BMG for their "rootkit" CD copy protection scheme. Learn more about our efforts through the links below, and consider donating to support our efforts.
Litigation
- 2006 DMCA RulemakingEFF did not file for DMCA exemption requests in 2006. Instead, we explained why the rule-making process is fundamentally broken and unable to protect consumers.
- RealNetworks v. DVD-CCA (RealDVD case)On September 30, 2008, the day Real was to formally launch its RealDVD product, the motion picture studios filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles and asked for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the launch. The same day, RealNetworks filed a lawsuit in San Francisco asking the court to declare that distribution of RealDVD is lawful.
- US v. ElcomSoft Sklyarov
- Sony BMG Litigation Info
- Macrovision v. SimaIn 2005, Macrovision sued Sima to block the sale of the Sima CopyThis! (CT-1, CT-Q1, CT-100, CT-2, CT-200) and GoDVD (SCC, and SCC-2) products, which are designed to digitize analog video, such as the analog video outputs of DVD players and analog VCRs. The Macrovision Analog Copy Protection (ACP) signals often embedded in these analog outputs, however, do not survive the digitizing process, and therefore are not embedded in the outputs of the Sima devices. Macrovision argued that this violates both Macrovision's patents and the DMCA's prohibition on circumvention.
In The News
- TECH DIRT | December 30, 2009 Calculating The DRM Tax On A Kindle
- WALL STREET JOURNAL BLOGS | December 24, 2009 New Crack for Amazon’s Kindle E-Books Emerges
- THEWRAP | November 20, 2009 DVD Customers Are Not Movie Pirates
Other Resources
- The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music
- Consumer Success: It Comes Down To Innovation, by Fred von Lohmann[eetimes.com]
- Cory Doctorow's Microsoft Research DRM Talk - June 18, 2004
- Death by DMCA, by Fred von Lohmann and Wendy Seltzer, IEEE Spectrum Magazine[spectrum.ieee.org]
- How Hollywood Has Been Trying to Disrupt Innovation, by Fred von Lohmann[eet.com]
Related Issues
- Analog HoleHollywood Versus The Analog Hole
- Digital RadioRIAA's Attempt to Control Recording From the Radio
- Broadcast FlagA mandate would force all future digital televisiontuners to include "content protection" (aka DRM) technologies.
- Digital VideoDigital Video Restrictions
Whitepapers
Deeplinks Posts
- June 23, 2010 Apple, Give Us a "Freedom of Choice" Button
- April 23, 2010 Consumers International Video: When Copyright Goes Bad
- March 30, 2010 Sony Steals Feature From Your PlayStation 3
Press Releases
- July 22, 2009 Apple Withdraws Threats Against Wiki Site
- February 09, 2009 EFF Calls on Federal Regulators to Protect Consumers from DRM
- October 27, 2008 EFF Marks 10th Anniversary of DMCA with Report on Law's Unintended Consequences
Documents and Files
- February 9, 2009 Comments to the FTC on DRM[PDF, 261.10 KB]

Want to learn how you can defend free speech, stand up for privacy, fight for government transparency, support consumer rights, and protect your right to innovation in the digital world? Visit http://eff.org/fight to find ways to help.