Symhpony

Digital rights management ( DRM ) is an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. It may also refer to restrictions associated with specific instances of digital works or devices. For digital protection of software and hardware devices not specifically related to protection of digital media, see copy protection.

The use of digital rights management has been controversial. Advocates argue it is necessary for copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work to ensure continued revenue streams. Opponents, such as the Free Software Foundation, maintain that the use of the word "rights" is misleading and suggest that people instead use the term digital restrictions management . Their position is essentially that copyright holders are attempting to restrict use of copyrighted material in ways not included in the statutory or common law grant of exclusive commercial use to them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other opponents, also consider DRM schemes to be anti-competitive practices.