How to Explain DRM
By day I’m a financial analyst. I’m the cog in the machine that puts together your business cases so that you can get the go ahead to launch. Last week I worked on a program that involved DRM (or even more importantly, a move towards the lack thereof!!). I got to explain to my manager what DRM is and why many people aren’t big fans of it. I had to add a footnote explaining it, just in case senior management didn’t understand either. I took it directly out of wikipedia.
“Digital rights management (DRM) is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices. The term is used to describe any technology that inhibits uses of digital content not desired or intended by the content provider.”
I understand that definition. It made me think if other people would understand it. If people don’t really think about ownership rights when they buy a song or download an e-book, then they may not understand the implications that DRM has for them. If people aren’t deep into the tech world or the music world or cutting edge authors, then they may not have a frame of reference for what this means.
How else can I explain DRM? How else can I frame the problem? Can I use another metaphor, something with more relevance to everyday situations? Something that someone who isn’t technically minded (and might even be dismissive of those who are) would still get? It hit me last night.
Imagine that you’ve bought furniture for your house – couches, a dining room table and chairs, a bedroom set. Imagine that you’ve moved homes twice in the last 10 years. Tomorrow you’ve moving into your third house. Except that when you go to move in you get told that you can’t take you’re furniture with you because you were only allowed to use it in “two houses”. That’s what DRM is – it is restrictions on how you’re able to use something that you’ve bought.
Imagine a world where someone told you how many times you could move your furniture or how many times you could sit on your couch. That’s DRM.
How else could I explain this? What other metaphors might work to communicate this idea?
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That’s about as simple as you can make it.
Your metaphor also extends to once you no longer like the couch, you aren’t allowed to sell, or even give, it away!
But it does seem like a pretty simple metaphor for those not techically minded
A start
Also, this documentary was pretty good at explaining it.
I had to google DRM when you first twittered about it. Then I hoped you would blog about it because I didn’t understand the definition I was given.
The only other way I can think of explaining this is… whatever movie that is like “This message will self destruct in 5 seconds” then bursts into flames.
I told my 83yo dementia suffering dad your explanation and while he didn’t remember the term “DRM”( I didn’t bother with the full name) and argued, “Who’d want the same furniture for 10 years?” he seemed to understand the concept. He won’t in 5 minutes, but I think, at least I hope, the seniors you’re dealing with will not have that issue.