This is a fabulous document.  (Full disclosure: we provided feedback on a draft that was incorporated into the final version.)  Its perspective is a dramatic, refreshing change from the vast majority of the rhetoric over DRM, and its potential value is huge.

The premise of Evaluating DRM is that DRM is here to stay, fundamentally beneficial in launching consumer-responsive business models for digital media, and influenced by market forces to a far greater degree than it will ever be by laws.  At the same time, consumers should be made aware of shortcomings in DRM technology from various perspectives, including: transparency (users are made aware of relevant features and effects of the technology), effects on content use (relative to consumer expectations, not just copyright laws), "collateral damage" (ill effects on users' content platforms, such as PCs and portable devices), and purpose and consumer benefit (facilitating new business models vs. merely emulating old ones). 

After going through an explanation of DRM and dissecting a few current examples (DVDs, copy-protected CDs, and online music services), the white paper proposes a framework for evaluating DRMs according to the four perspectives above.  It then cautions readers against applying too many criteria from legacy media distribution models to evaluate DRM.  It brings up the crucial point that consumer expectations both will evolve and should be adjusted to some of the realities of technology, such as that there are always going to be platform incompatibilities everywhere.

In fact, the one shortcoming of Evaluating DRM is in its treatment of the role of technology platform vendors in DRM.  The focus is on providing input to the kind of product reviews that an organization like Consumer's Union might do.  "Products" -- e.g., DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and digital downloads -- rely on DRM technology platforms that may or may not be configurable, at least with respect to usage models.  It is just as important to call platform providers to task on DRM as it is the product packagers that use them and the content rights holders that license them.  Reviewers need to be equipped with sufficient knowledge to tease apart which features are intrinsic to DRM platforms vs. those that are chosen as configuration options.  The white paper does not specifically address this.

Nevertheless, Evaluating DRM is the most important tool that currently exists for making DRM technology that facilitates consumer-responsive evolution of digital media markets.  It should be required reading for anyone who writes about, evaluates, or (especially) complains about DRM.

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