With Digital Rights Management … , Christopher May, an expert on intellectual property, argues that digital rights management (DRM) is a technology that we all need to understand: we should be aware of the reasons why it is propagated, but also the underlying dangers. Although in a brief and succinct manner, a number of these potential dangers and especially the political impact on the global society are brought to the attention of the reader. In addition, readers can refer to the extensive list of references to enable them to form an own opinion on the use of DRM.
Seemingly aimed at the protection of intellectual rights, DRM has the potential to undermine many information‐related freedoms, e.g. our right of privacy and computer security. As Christopher May puts it: “Whatever the claims about merely protecting the rights of creators and innovators, the target of both the music and the software industries has been their customers' post purchase practices” (p. 127). On the one hand, we need to protect the right of the creators of information, but on the other hand we also need to protect the rights of the users.
In Digital Rights Management … , Christopher May makes it clear that the book is not about the technological aspects or how to implement a DRM system. His intention, in which he succeeds well, is to alert the reader to the political economy of DRM, and the social impact. He explores the problems and issues faced by DRM – especially problems concerning intellectual property, as well as the response the use of DRM has provoked and the crucial relationships between intellectual property rights (IPRs). The social norms of the use of information and/or knowledge are also briefly explored with a strong emphasis on the political controversies regarding the balance between private rights and public goods of information dissemination and use.
The book consists of five chapters. May sets the scene for the scope of the book and its intentions in Chapter 1, the relationship between intellectual property and social norms are covered in Chapter 2, and DRM, fair use and other challenges are covered in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, the music and software industries and DRM are discussed. With regard to the music industry the controversy surrounding Sony/BMG with DRM software on CDs by Van Zant and other artist are mentioned. In the last chapter, May argues that the utilisation of DRM does not merely return the protection of IPRs, but that it actually strengthens the rights of the owners (e.g. in the music and software industries).
Digital Rights Management … is recommended to policy markers in the wider context of the information industry as well as information professionals who need to sharpen their own alertness to the use and dangers of DRM, or who are in a position to alert policy makers to these.
