Digital Rights Management Overview

Digital rights management (DRM) refers to protecting ownership/copyright of electronic content by restricting what actions an authorized recipient may take in regard to that content. DRM gives digital-content publishers the ability to securely distribute high-value content such as periodicals, books, photographs, educational material, video, and research and to control the use of that content, preventing unauthorized distribution. [Noakes-Fry, Oct 2000] This paper presents an overview of DRM issues addressed, standards, technology and service providers, challenges, and guidance for determining if DRM may be applicable to your organization.