The Pain of the Downloadable-Music Dilemma

I hadn't planned to write any more about the MP3.com (MPPP Quote)/Napster/Gnutella downloadable-music copyright issues after last week's three-part series. You can beat even the best story to death. But I've had such an enormous response from TheStreet.com readers that I want to visit this just once more, to respond to your many questions and suggestions on methods of stopping the illegal copying of digital content.

A number of readers wondered why I didn't devote space to the several digital rights management (DRM) systems under development. Aren't they going to be important players? And won't they finally solve this problem, and on the side of the angels -- er, on the side of the content creators and their record-label publishers?

Well, there are certainly plenty of contenders. I count at least eight entries vying to become the DRM vendor of choice for record companies looking eagerly but warily at online music sales. The list includes some relatively big names, too, such as Reciprocal, which has partnered with (and received an investment from) Microsoft (MSFT Quote). Reciprocal's DRM technology, which works with both music and movie/video content, is already embedded in Microsoft's Windows Media Player. ...