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As CNET points out, when Sony BMG became the last major label to sell DRM-free tracks, we pretty much declared DRM deader than HD DVD or Tony Stark if he got in a fight with Batman (at least for the music industry; movies are another story). But RIAA tech chief David Hughes told a panel yesterday that DRM is tech's Obi-Wan Kenobi: It's coming back and will be powerful than we can possibly imagine, but it won't be giving sage advice to budding Jedi.

Hughes' argument centers around subscriptions: "(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music and 20 of them still require DRM...any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead." And he thinks subscription services are where we're headed (or at least the industry hopes so), meaning DRM for all.

But the fact that he's pinning DRM's survival on subscriptions—as opposed to advocating for it on all tracks you buy online—shows that we actually have come a long way, and DRM is dead, at least in one sense. Contrast with the MPAA's rep, whose industry is still in the beginning of the DRM life cycle: "We need DRM to show our customers the limits of the license they have entered into with us." The RIAA is a veritable Lessigian copyright hippie in comparison.

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RIAA: DRM not dead and likely will make comeback

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET News.com)

LOS ANGELES--News of DRM's death has been greatly exaggerated, according to an executive with the Recording Industry Association of America.

At a time when the top recording companies appear to be phasing out digital rights management (DRM), the RIAA is predicting that the highly controversial software will make a comeback.

"(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music, and 20 of them still require DRM," said David Hughes, who heads up the RIAA's technology unit, during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference. "Any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead."

Hughes just stated the obvious. DRM still exists; one can find it at iTunes, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, and at free-music service SpiralFrog just to name a few. But his statement was startling because the top four music labels have seemingly been warming up to unprotected music files.

Last January, when Sony BMG became the last major recording company to sell DRM-free tracks at Amazon, plenty of observers considered the technology buried. Since then, a growing number of online stores have begun offering at least some open MP3s, including Walmart.com, Zune's Marketplace, Amazon, as well as iTunes.

Not so fast, said Hughes, who predicted that DRM would reemerge in a big way. "I think there is going to be a shift," he told the audience. "I think there will be a movement towards subscription services, and (that) will eventually mean the return of DRM."

Hughes also said that DRM must change so that the public sees it less as a sort of policeman that locks music a way. He would prefer a mode where consumers don't notice DRM at all. "People just want music when they want it," he said. "It's about access. If they get that then they don't care about DRM."

Not everybody on the panel agreed. Rajan Samtani, director of business development at Digimarc Corp., a company that provides watermarking technology, said he worked for ContentGuard, a company that tries to help find less obtrusive ways to implement DRM.

"I think it's time to throw in the towel," Samtani said. "These kids have too many ways to get around DRM."

Fritz Attaway, executive vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America said: "We need DRM to show our customers the limits of the license they have entered into with us."

David Hughes, who heads up the RIAA's technology unit

The RIAA has a technology unit? They're so far behind the curve that you'd think the job would require wearing a clown suit to work.

(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music and 20 of them still require DRM

Let's see -- CDs, vinyl, downloads, radio, television, live performances, word of mouth, websites, advertising, movie synchronization, open guitar case in subway stations...

This clown could only think of two ways to sell music without DRM. He's the head of the RIAA's "technology unit."

All their bases are belong to us.

I love one of the comments:

"DRM = Jar Jar Binks"

LOL

""I think it's time to throw in the towel," Samtani said. "These kids have too many ways to get around DRM.""

Well put, and honest.

"These kids have too many ways to get around DRM."

Like a Sharpie and the Shift key, which were sufficient to defeat the first two or three generations of DRM.

Kids have "too many ways" to get around DRM because it only has to be good enough to fool the clowns in the RIAA tech department. The bar is low because of their big, floppy shoes.

and because they are muttonheads. Muttonhead don't want no free tv.