The Changing DRM

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If you're fed up with the fact that you often can't play your legally purchased music on your MP3 player, keep reading. Some companies in the industry are finally starting to listen to the complaints. There may be some changes coming, and sooner than you think.

You just bought that new CD from the store and want to get the music onto your iPod. It starts spinning, and up pops a message saying you can’t copy the music you legally bought to your iPod. Or you want to put all those songs from Napster on your new iPod. You tried and tried, but those songs just kept refusing to be put onto the MP3 player.

This same scenario has happened to millions of people. Maybe this has happened to you, maybe it hasn’t, but Digital Rights Management (DRM) has had a huge impact on music sales since it began. Take heart; your frustration might be over in the coming months if everything plays out.

Since the beginning of DRM time, if there was a way of protecting copyrighted media, there has been someone out there that has cracked it. This cycle of someone creating, and someone else quickly cracking, a new technology has been repeating for years. One of the most famous crackers was Norwegian Jon Lech Johansen (AKA DVD Jon). As his nickname points out, his first big crack was aimed at copyrighted DVD videos. In Norway the laws are a little less strict than they are here. His actions, after a court hearing, were considered legal.

There are many problems with all types of DRM. In the past few months, we  have heard a lot of news that hints at a turn from totally DRMed media to more open formats.  Will we ever see the day when we can buy a song anywhere and legally have it play on our MP3 players?

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