Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology is a method of content protection that can limit the use of content to specific platforms, devices or other such methods as deemed by the content manufacturer. The practice has been widely scrutinized as of late, specifically in terms of digital music.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been a topic of much buzz and speculation throughout the blogosphere over the past several months. With the advent of rival content providers offering music in non-DRM formats, the practice seems to be standing on its last legs.

This year promises to mark even more innovations in the realms of marketing, search, and digital music technology. The greatest feat of 2007 may not come in terms of an addition, but rather the removal of Digital Rights Management (DRM) practices from online music stores such as iTunes and the Zune marketplace.

There were a lot of significant advances in 2006 in the digital realm. Google prospered, YouTube exploded onto the scene, and the Internet overtook newspapers in the hierarchy of information consumption. What does this year hold in store for the technological landscape?

Apple has faced a fair amount of scrutiny in recent weeks concerning the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology tied to its online music store, iTunes. It now appears that the company is in for a legal battle over its DRM practices as well.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates invited a slew of influential Web 2.0 bloggers to a one-hour, anything goes summit meeting this afternoon. While a bevy of topics were discussed, one item that rose to the forefront of discussion was the controversial topic of Digital Rights Management (DRM).

Earlier this week, Yahoo released singles by Norah Jones and Relient K in unprotected mp3 formats as part of an ongoing experiment looking at the viability of offering music tracks that are free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) constraints, which have had audiophiles the world over crying “foul” for quite some time.

There’s some serious differences between the DRM terms between Windows Media Player 10 and 11. Most specifically, this section:

Google has changed the way Gmail displays PDF files, in order to prevent it from circumventing Adobe’s DRM.

Not to the get into the intricacies of French lawmaking, I’ll defer to a source nearer to it (thanks ZDNet). French lawmakers have modified proposed legislation on digital rights management (DRM) that will make it legal for hackers to crack copyright protection and distribute the software at will.

Allow me to further simplify the Buy Side Publishing model. The most efficient part of the content business isn’t in how or what they produce, nor how they distributed it, but how they make money.

France’s Trade Minister Christine Lagarde visited technology executives in Silicon Valley, and brought plenty of European attitude along on the trip.

Microsoft says recovery from malware is becoming impossible. Well, duh.

Lawmakers in France characterize the passage of an online copyright draft bill by the National Assembly as one that will permit customers to download songs from other music stores to iPods and make it even more appealing to Apple’s hardware customers.

Engadget posts that CNet’s MP3 Insider studied several MP3 players and discovered that you lose several hours of battery life when playing DRM music.

Yahoo Music VP and general manager Dave Goldberg suggested to attendees at the Music 2.0 conference that music labels should try selling their songs online without the encumbrance of copy protection schemes.

Okay, some stuff sitting around in open tabs:

An array of technology companies just found out who SoftVault Systems is: a patent holding company that developed digital rights management technology, and the willingness to sue over them.

Yahoo has launched a podcasting site, a place that’s not only a directory of podcasts but also a great resource of rich information on podcasting generally, and a one-stop-shop for your podcasts and music purchasing.

Sun Microsystems has opened up its “Project DReaM,” which it wants to develop as a royalty free, open source DRM option.

Another Hollywood player, Lions Gate Home Entertainment, will release its next generation DVDs under the Blu-ray format.