HBO: DRM Just Needs a Name Change

What's wrong with DRM—the copy-protection scheme that keeps all of us would-be thieves from pirating music and DVDs the first chance we get—that a little name change wouldn't fix? That seems to be the mindset at HBO, at least, where execs apparently think the only reason we don't cozy up to DRM is that we resent that dastardly name.

According to Wired News, HBO's chief technology officer Bob Zitter got in front of a trade show audience in Las Vegas earlier this week and proposed that DRM—or "Digital Rights Management"—be rechristened DCE, or "Digital Consumer Enablement." (No, I'm not making this up.) Wired News quotes Zitter as saying that the new name "properly" conveys how digital copy protection, in fact, allows consumers "to use content in ways they haven't before," including time-shifting, downloading songs to your iPod, and the like.

Wow. I had no idea that DRM (or rather, DCE) "enables" me to not put my purchased movies and tunes on the devices I want to put them on. With this new name, however, I'll be much more likely to appreciate how I'm barred from using my DVDs and tunes (the ones I paid good money for) the way I see fit. It's a cozy, comforting thought. What are those DRM-free goofballs at Apple and EMI thinking?

Related:
HBO Exec: Don't Call It DRM [Wired blogs]