Continuing my rants about DRM I'll be looking at software DRM mainly in the gaming arena. This is a slight deviation from my original plan, I had hoped to discuss Movie DRM, but with the recent developments coming out of EA regarding Mass Effect for PC and Spore it seemed like the ideal opportunity.

"If you intend to transfer a previously downloaded song to a new computer (or an existing computer with a new operating system, such as an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista) within the maximum allowed limit of 5 computers, please do so before August 31, 2008. You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."

Full article, which is well worth a read:
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/games_consumer/my_dear_john_lette...

Digital Rights Managment, or DRM, has been about since the advent of legal music download services - and some could argue that the "copy protection" used in some games predate even this.

The theory behind DRM is simple, you pay for your item and have reasonable uses of it. Be this viewing for a preset amount of time, or not being able to use on more than 1/3/5/10 other devices. DRM is there to protect the media, to prevent a buy once used n times scenario. In theory, it means that the artist/label/studio gets paid their fair due's when their work is sold.