05/11/2007

So digital rights management, or DRM, has been getting a bad rap lately… mainly because it’s a terrible way to enforce copyright laws. But the chief technology officer over at HBO, Bob Zitter, has a fabulous idea that will surely conquer the fear and distrust that DRM has gained. He wants to rename DRM, and instead call it

(drumroll)

Digital Consumer Enablement

(moment of stunned silence)

I guess to him, “DRE” sounds better than “DRM” for some reason. Never mind that it’s exactly the same thing– it’s just supposed to sound friendlier to consumers.

Actually, is “enablement” even a word?

Things like this not only make me laugh, but only prove yet again that the industry and the technology firms it employs are unspeakably clueless.