Digital rights management, or DRM, refers to technologies built into software, games, music, video and e-books that restrict how a copy of the work can be used, copied or shared, typically by requiring a license check or encryption key before the content will play or run. Publishers and technology companies began building DRM systems into commercial software during the 1980s and expanded the practice through the 1990s and 2000s as music, film and publishing moved to digital distribution, including systems such as Apple's FairPlay for early iTunes purchases. The source consulted for this entry names no single inventor or origin date for DRM as a category, so none is recorded here; it remains a persistent source of dispute between rights holders seeking to limit unauthorized copying and users and researchers who argue it restricts legitimate use of purchased content.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.