Several sources including this IDG News Service article published in PCWorld are reporting on a speech given by Cambridge-MIT researcher Ian Brown which argues that DRM technologies are inherently flawed. Snippets:
DRM technology is simple but making it work is difficult, Brown said. The data has to be decrypted to be used, and the "analog hole" remains--the ability for determined bootleggers to use a microphone or regular video camera to record content for posting on file-sharing networks.
So-called "watermarks"--instructions regulating the usage of the file that are invisible to the users--can be removed by a determined programmer, allowing them to post a file to a P-to-P (peer to peer) network, Brown said. The algorithms used for watermarks are still "primitive," Brown said.
DRM technologies may be most effective for time-based events where encryption would only have to hold for a short period, such as the broadcast of a live sports event, Brown said.
