The lock down on data has begun.

What if e-mails, spreadsheet files, and Web pages were secured with digital locks, accessible only to those who have the correct password? What if a user can control who can print, copy, or forward data in an office?

With digital rights management (DRM) technology, these scenarios will soon become reality. Software and media companies are pushing new content security initiatives, each offering or using a version of DRM that is intended to protect content from unwelcome eyes. Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and record labels have been fitting new CD and DVD releases with layers of computer code that aim to prevent or limit users' ability to copy, or "rip," them onto a blank disc to trade or sell. For example, AOL Time Warner has released albums in a CD and DVD audio-encrypted, "rip-proof" format intended to prevent copying. Consumer electronics companies such as Sony and Nokia have begun to install DRM systems into new stereo systems and handheld devices to ensure copy righted materials are not reproduced and transferred from gadget to gadget without consumers paying for them.

The biggest market for content security, however, is expected to be corporations, government agencies, and hospitals that must keep sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. Microsoft's Office 2003 software suite features user controls designating who can print, copy, or forward data. (See "Coming Soon: Self-Destructing E-mail?" in the January/February 2003 IMJ) In addition, users will be able to mark particular files and mail to "sunset" after a specified period of time, meaning files will disappear after they are read. But the danger is that organizations may dictate that every e-mall message and document be locked down with a virtual ball and chain, meaning there would be no opportunity to copy, forward, edit, or archive.

According to experts, organizations' use of DRM may affect how whistleblowers inform outsiders of corporate malfeasance. For example, if DRM had been in place when Richard Nixon was U.S. president, the Pentagon papers--documentation of three decades of the United States' growing involvement in Vietnam--might never have been made public. According to USA Today: "DRM can be set to prevent even the printing of certain documents. Daniel Ellsberg, who made copies of the papers that were eventually delivered to the New York Times for publication, would never have been able to get the necessary information out of the building."

The European Union (EU) is grappling with DRM, too. The EU established a directive to address the legal framework for DRM. The directive supports DRM use by protecting technical measures and requiring member states to take into account the application and non-application of technological measures when providing for fair compensation in the context of the private use exception for which fair compensation is required. Member slates must incorporate the rules established by the directive into national law by December 2003. The directive also calls for voluntary industry measures to protect copyrighted materials while ensuring interoperability and compatibility of different systems in the protection of copyrighted material.