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The term DRM-free, with DRM standing for digital rights management, is commonly used online to refer to content which can be downloaded and transferred by the user. Content which is not DRM-free cannot be downloaded and is only accessible on the particular app or website of the content provider. My question is, what is the antonym of DRM-free? A single word term would be desired as the phrases I considered sound quite clunky and verbose. An example usage would be:

Sadly, Jack could not transfer his music files to his friend as they were _______

6 Answers6

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The most common term seems to be DRM protected. Other relatively common terms, in approximate descending order, include DRM locked, DRM enabled, DRMed, and DRM encumbered.

A few notes:

  • DRM protected seems to be relatively neutral, whereas DRM locked, DRMed, and DRM encumbered seem to be slightly pejorative and DRM enabled seems to be slightly, um, ameliorative.
  • DRM enabled is a bit ambiguous, in that it's also used to describe devices that support DRM. But the intended meaning is usually clear from context.
  • As Martin Smith mentions above, DRM can take a number of different forms, and doesn't necessarily prevent downloading.
ruakh
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    Among those who would use a term like "DRM-free", "DRM-encumbered" is not so uncommon as an antonym. In contrast, "DRM-protected" has a more positive connotation, by my reading of it. – Oleksandr R. Dec 13 '15 at 22:29
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    @OleksandrR.: Presumably "DRM-protected" was intended to have a positive connotation ("protection" is good, right?), but in practice I think it's basically used neutrally. As for "DRM-encumbered" -- I'll add that, thanks. But Google-searches suggest that it's not as common as the other terms I'd listed. – ruakh Dec 13 '15 at 22:59
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    Among the sites I typically visit (like Arstechnica) the term I often read is DRM-crippled (though, that may be just my brain translating anything DRM-**** into DRM-crippled) – slebetman Dec 14 '15 at 07:08
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    My first instinct would be "DRM-ridden", just as pejorative as "DRM-encumbered" but faster to say. – Medinoc Dec 14 '15 at 10:45
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    I use "DRM laden" myself. – Joe Z. Dec 14 '15 at 12:57
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    in the context, the DRM is preventing the user from doing stuff, and are therefore encumbering Jack. – njzk2 Dec 14 '15 at 16:08
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    @Medinoc I have also come across some more negative terms being used such as DRM infested and DRM infected. – kasperd Dec 14 '15 at 17:09
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    Wouldn’t these words have to be hyphenated (DRM-protected, DRM-enabled, etc.)? (honest question, I’m a non-native speaker) – unor Dec 14 '15 at 19:02
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    @unor: There's a lot of variation in that respect, but the most common recommendation is that such compounds be hyphenated when used attributively (before a noun; e.g., "a DRM-protected file"), but not when used predicatively (elsewhere; e.g., "the file is DRM protected"). (Personally, I tend to hyphenate regardless -- "this file is DRM-protected" -- but I decided that I should follow the standard recommendation here, since I didn't have any specific reason not to.) – ruakh Dec 14 '15 at 19:46
  • I'd have been inclined to phrase it as "subject to DRM" – Glen_b Dec 15 '15 at 01:02
  • It may not be as common as some other terms, but "DRM-encumbered" is used by the FSF and other relatively authoritative (well compared to some guy's blog post) sources such as wikipedia: See e.g. here. When I read the question title it would also have been my first choice, followed by DRM-protected. – Voo Dec 15 '15 at 13:50
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    I’d not use “DRM protected” – sure, it’s protected, but from whom? From the user. Applying this to something a person wishes to use is most certainly not neutral, but rather misleading. – mirabilos Dec 15 '15 at 14:36
  • "DRM encumbered" is exactly what I thought of when I saw the question title. – T.J. Crowder Dec 15 '15 at 19:07
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"DRM-locked", especially if you're looking for a single word similar to "DRM-free". For example, Kindle books, which are under DRM, will give an error saying "This book is locked by DRM" or something similar when you attempt to edit them with an ebook-managing program.

In fact, "under DRM" also works if there are instances where a single word doesn't sound right.

"DRM-limited" is also an option, but it's less clearly an antonym of "DRM-free" and it's similar enough in form to the better "DRM-locked" that there's probably no need to ever use it.

Yee-Lum
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Copy Protected

I've seen this definition for it:

A class of methods for preventing incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers from using it. Considered silly.

The New Hacker's Dictionary, third edition, by Eric S. Raymond

Tonepoet
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    The New Hacker's Dictionary is getting rather old, and language changes. I think most people these days will say DRM-something instead. The rest of the quote is spot on, though. – Stig Hemmer Dec 14 '15 at 10:56
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    @StigHemmer Sure, but I don't think "copy-protected" sounds dated. – Casey Dec 15 '15 at 14:19
  • The term DRM was invented decades after copy protected had been in frequent use. I tend to think of DRM as preventing the copying of passive media like movies and books by using flags ("don't copy this") and digital signatures ("this belongs to alice"), whereas copy protection was physically preventing a piece of software/firmware from running other than on the media it was supplied on (by making the media non-standard so regular OS-supplied copying tools didn't work). I believe the distinction is useful, and still stands. –  Dec 16 '15 at 08:04
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DRM-laden

especially in order to bring attention to some cumbersome "feature"

user2813274
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  • I have never heard anyone who is not a journalist use the word "laden". – gnasher729 Dec 14 '15 at 13:51
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    I see it in books/fiction, but "laden" is usually used to imply a large number of items, a trying emotional burden, or a great weight. For all its downsides, DRM is at least... not particularly heavy. – Yee-Lum Dec 14 '15 at 17:06
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How about "DRM-protected"? For example:

DRM-protected titles https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/electronic-resources/e_book_guides/T-and-F

Han79
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  • "Protected" implies a modicum of effectiveness and is a misleading term. The only thing being protected is the distributor's ability to arbitrarily restrict the ways their customers can experience the content. – Shadur-don't-feed-the-AI Dec 16 '15 at 06:24
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For a more loaded term, there are those who refer to such things as:

Defective By Design

This is admittedly meant to be a non-neutral term, and is more of a phrase, but is a non-uncommon term, especially in certain circles.

GWLlosa
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    Note that the Free Software Foundation's Defective by Design campaign actually uses the term "DRM-encumbered" (which appears in the accepted answer). – yoniLavi Dec 15 '15 at 00:52
  • Although this is true, literal signification of defective by design can very easily be used to refer to other concepts such as planned obsolescence or crippleware too so this only fits in limited contexst. – Tonepoet Dec 27 '15 at 16:20