Digital rights management: Difference between revisions

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==Why it is a problem==

A device ~~in user's legal possession designed~~ to act against ~~their~~ owner~~'s intention~~ constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]].

Any design of a device that allows it to act against the intention of its owner constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]] over the device.

A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. ~~Such~~ restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the techniques available to consumers. This presents a ~~serious~~ engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.

A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. From a perspective of the rights holder (whose rights DRM protects), such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access inherently allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the circumvention techniques available to consumers. This presents a significant engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.

For example, Netflix requires HDCP DRM for playback of its video content in advertised quality. And on multi-monitor systems HDCP only works if ''all'' connected monitors support it, not just the one that displays the video.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-24 |title=Netflix requires all monitors to be HDCP 2.2. How can I get around this? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126224945/https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-22 |title=How do I get Netflix working at 4k on my second monitor? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403054443/https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use Netflix on your Windows computer or tablet |url=https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104160941/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Netflix Help Center}}</ref> This means that older but fully functional monitors cannot be used as secondary screens without causing HDCP to fail on that PC and thus causing Netflix to serve a version of the content much lower in quality than it advertises.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Why it is a problem==
-A device in user's legal possession designed to act against their owner's intention constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]].
+Any design of a device that allows it to act against the intention of its owner constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]] over the device.
-A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. Such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the techniques available to consumers. This presents a serious engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.
+A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. From a perspective of the rights holder (whose rights DRM protects), such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access inherently allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the circumvention techniques available to consumers. This presents a significant engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.
 For example, Netflix requires HDCP DRM for playback of its video content in advertised quality. And on multi-monitor systems HDCP only works if ''all'' connected monitors support it, not just the one that displays the video.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-24 |title=Netflix requires all monitors to be HDCP 2.2. How can I get around this? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126224945/https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-22 |title=How do I get Netflix working at 4k on my second monitor? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403054443/https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use Netflix on your Windows computer or tablet |url=https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104160941/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Netflix Help Center}}</ref> This means that older but fully functional monitors cannot be used as secondary screens without causing HDCP to fail on that PC and thus causing Netflix to serve a version of the content much lower in quality than it advertises.