Digital Rights Management: The Problem of Expanding Ownership Rights (Chandos Information Professional Series)

Digital Rights Management examines the social context of new digital rights management (DRM) technologies in a lively and accessible style. It sets out the scope of DRMs in non-technical terms and then explores the shifts that DRM has produced within the regime of protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Focusing on the social norms around the protection of IPRs, it examines the music industry and software development sector to ask whether the protections established by DRM are legitimate and socially beneficial. Using these key examples to establish a more general argument, the books central conclusion is that rather than merely re-establishing threatened rights, the development of DRM has extended the rights of intellectual property owners, and that such an extension violates previous carefully balanced political compromises as regards the maintenance of the public domain. Places DRM in its political context Sets out the social impact of a new and important technology Accessible and clearly written for a non-technical audience Christopher May Examines The Social Context Of New Digital Rights Management (drm), Sets Out Its Scope In Non-technical Terms And Then Explores The Shifts That Drm Has Produced Within The Regime Of Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights. Introduction: Setting The Scene -- Intellectual Property And Social Norms -- Digital Rights Management: Two Trajectories -- Digital Rights Management: Two Cases For Consideration -- Digital Rights Management: The (over)protection Of Rights And The Expansion Of Open Alternatives. Christopher May. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 147-159) And Index. Content: Front matter , Pages i-iii Copyright , Page iv Dedication , Page v Preface , Pages ix-xii Acknowledgements , Pages xiii-xiv About the author , Page xv 1 - Introduction: setting the scene , Pages 1-33 2 - Intellectual property and social norms , Pages 35-65 3 - Digital rights management: two trajectories , Pages 67-94 4 - Digital rights management: two cases for consideration , Pages 95-125 5 - Digital rights management, the (over)protection of rights and the expansion of open alternatives , Pages 127-146 References , Pages 148-160 Index , Pages 161-162