DRM -- that is Digital Rights Management for the lay person. DRM captures the set of technologies and business models for protecting intellectual property and that controls the uses and distribution of digital content.
There is an interesting article from the Wharton Business School today on the future of DRM from a business model perspective. It is an interesting read, along with some of the commentary offered by readers. The Wharton experts conclude that DRM is not going away, despite recent developments in the music industry. Instead, the DRM components will likely just become less intrusive. This is good or interesting news for those of us interested in digital course materials, where students have reported that current DRM approaches represent an obstacle to adoption.
The article can be found at: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1882
