Overview

Content protection (CP) refers to the general field of managing the distribution and use of intellectual works. These works include dramatic, artistic, and literary variations. In the PC world, content protection typically deals with managing audio and video content, such as pre-recorded movies and music. Content that needs protection usually has value and a clear owner.

Content protection is also known as copy protection or digital rights management (DRM). ^[1] Whether or not the three terms apply to slightly different aspects of technologies that are designed to manage the distribution of premium content is a fine-grained distinction. For our purposes, the term content protection serves as a catch-all descriptor.

Content protection is a very controversial field. Certainly, public awareness of the topic has increased since the Internet brought us the ability to rapidly and easily exchange digital copies of media. The last decade has seen a large increase in legal actions related to content protection. But, such content protection concerns predate the rise of the Internet. In 1983, for instance, Universal City Studios sued Sony because the studio felt that Sony's Betamax VCR was a copyright infringement device.

The controversy stems from the fact that content providers typically desire a more restrictive usage of media than consumers want. For instance, many users feel they should be able to download all movies and music for free over the Internet. However, the owners of the content want...