I bought it, i'll share it

Digital Rights Management to save the day?
     With technology moving at a rapid pace and the music industry as popular as ever how do we begin to limit the stealing of music.  When the Backsteet Boys would release their brand new albums back in the late 90s and early 2000s, people would rush to the stores in hopes to get hands on the CD.  The CD usually in a tiny clear case with fancy album work on the front and the track list on the back.  It was always a pleasant surprise to see how creative the album cover would be and it was exciting going to purchase your favorite artists album.  Now in the year 2012, Justin Bieber will release an album.  While some may rush to the store and buy that same CD that people have been buying for a decade.  Most, will simply get online and find the fastest way to rip the entire album right onto their Mac or PC.  This way is lighting fast, convenient, and offers the exact same music.  So why would someone go to the store if piracy is this easy?  Digital Rights Management is a term to refer to any piece of technology that offers the chance to stop or mediate piracy for music, video games, films, and many other things.
Bringing DRM to life

     Digital Rights Management aims to take control of the digital content out of the consumers hand and put it on the computer program too help block, out smart, and limit what is copied for multiple uses.  The digital copies are leading to the major corporations losing out on billions of dollars of profit because why buy the real thing when the copy is free and made so available.  According to Julia Layton at "How Stuff Works" the movie industry estimates a profit loss from illegal distribution of DVD's around 5 billion dollars.  This is why DRM is designed to limit the number of copies that are made available to the purchaser.  It is impossible to completely stop piracy, so this is the 2nd best option when trying to regain control.
This ones on YOU
    So how am i in the middle of this huge crisis in the entertainment industry.  Like most teenagers, i listen to music, play video games, and watch movies on a regular basis.  Walking to class i listen to my favorite artists, when i get home i turn on my XBOX and play my favorite games, and at night i occasionally pop in a DVD to entertain myself before bed.  Now, i do not participate in piracy for these DVDs and XBOX games, but it is almost impossible to track every song on my itunes and to determine that not one of these songs is "stolen".  Piracy is just one of those illegal activities that not many people frown upon.  We look at some crimes as not really being that bad, they don't imply that you are a bad person because you have done this activity.  With the booming music industry the way it is, it is only practical to say that some people are just gonna keep figuring out ways to copy music and thats just how its going to be.