DRM... Helpful or Harmful?

Adobe today announced that it has been using DRM (Digital Rights Management) with Photoshop which is the most pirated application in the world in Australia for 3 months now. Earlier this week Macromedia announced it will start using DRM with it’s software. Can we view this as an up and coming trend? That’s yet to be seen, but while the RIAA has brought the spotlight to Intellectual property rights companies like Adobe and Macromedia are jumping on the bandwagon. It’s likely that if attention wasn’t already drawn to intellectual property rights Adobe and Macromedia would receive the same flack the TurboTax did when they introduced DRM into their software.

Other Side of the Coin

We all know that companies should get paid for the capital, time and research invested in a product. But will introducing DRM harm a company’s future with a product? Companies like Adobe want to see the return on their products so DRM seems to be the only solution.

For a person wanting to learn a program, time must be spent using the program. If the program has a high learning curve it equates to more time using it. Macromedia has partially solved this problem by allowing downloadable 30 day trials of the software. Can someone learn Macromedia Flash in 30 days? I highly doubt it, unless they are in an educational or professional environment. Adobe Photoshop is an extremely powerful program, but it’s also complex. Time is needed to learn it, but who is going to buy a $500 to $600 dollar program “just to try it out.”

Educational versions are available for a cut-rate price, but even those have limitations, such as non upgradeability. To qualify for the education rate, you must prove enrollment into an educational intuition (high schools rarely qualify). This leaves the population without money or not attending college (which takes money) fending for themselves.

How many high school students go out and buy Photoshop, just because they can. None that I know of, yet high school students put out some of the best work. Where are they getting copies of Photoshop? The answer is Bearshare, Kazaa and Morpheus another words pirated versions. Most of these students who take it seriously start developing websites, the cash begins to flow in, when they get enough business they buy the latest version of the software. Piracy maybe be a short-term problem for a company but it has long-term effects like introducing software to people who otherwise would not have been introduced. In the long run it creates more dollars for the company.

DRM will possible give the company more dollars in the short-term, but will hurt them in the long run. DRM will allow access of software to the educated and wealthy, while the leaving the poor behind. The effects of DRM will not be felt immediately, but when sales begin to slump in 3 to 5 years the executives will be running around wondering why.