Digital Rights Management: Gain or loss?

In a world where perfect digital copies can be made in the blink of an eye, and can subsequently be disseminated across the web to thousands of recipients over night…

Tomorrow our team (team 9) will be debating with team 2 over the issue of DRM. This is an area that has a significant relevance in today's digital media world. Do companies deserve the right to police the products they sell? Are the stepping on user's toes, forcing them to comply with their policy? Are we hurting ourselves by using DRM or protecting the market?

There are a large number of arguments opposing DRM. Users will obviously feel that they are entitled to the fullest list of rights for copyrighted works they purchase. The Fair Use doctrine lists some of their limited rights, and those who oppose DRM will testify that DRM encroaches on their fair use. This is a natural response to an oppressing force such as DRM.

In light of the "piracy" problem, there must be a method that somehow attempts to control illegally circulating content. In order to ensure record labels a stream of revenue, DRM has been implemented. Rampant piracy threatens the entire content creation scheme. This widespread piracy is effectively eliminating the incentive for people to make new content, which will inevitably lead to the demise of music, movie, and publishing industry.

As it turns out, our team is supporting DRM, while the other is opposing. Should be an interesting, but one sided debate. There aren't many that support DRM: corporate executives and their attorneys. Not even the musicians.