I have never had a positive experience with DRM (Digital Rights Management). I can appreciate why content producers use it, to restrict unlimited copying of their copyrighted materials, but in my experience it just doesn't work.

Part of the problem is that it relies on proprietary (and possibly untrustworthy) software which often demands a specific computer setup. The original version of the BBC iPlayer insisted on Windows XP and the latest version of Media Player. Pretty much the same configuration was specified for Channel 4's 4OD system. Despite my computer complying with all of the requirements, neither system would work on it. I never managed to work out why. I eventually managed to get iPlayer to work on my new laptop.

At least the BBC now let you watch episodes on-line, using Flash and streaming, but XP/Media Player are still required if you want to download episodes. Downloading or streaming is usually only available for a week after broadcast, but downloading has the edge because you then get 28 days to watch the episode, which is handy if you don't have time to watch an episode straight away.

My main gripe with DRM is the complete lack of control I get. I cannot copy episodes to a portable media player, so I can only watch them on my laptop pc (which I can't connect to my TV) rather than on my Creative Zen (which I can).

I have had TV episodes 'expire' and refuse to play, despite the download library claiming I had several days left on the 'licence'. The worst experience was with music I downloaded from the '3 Music Store'. All of the music files were infested with DRM and somehow the licence files managed to get corrupted. All the files I had downloaded during the last year or so suddenly refused to play. The backup licence also failed to work. One good thing about the 3 Music Store is that it allows you to re-download the files at a later date. This only worked if I downloaded the files on my other computer, but at least I managed to get the files working again.

I will never consider buying any music or video which contains DRM (the '3' files were downloaded as part of the monthly allowance with my phone contract). There is no way I'll pay for music where somebody has the ability to deny me access to it. I'd rather buy a CD or DVD which should work on different machines, won't force me to upgrade my computer before playing and would be less likely to suddenly stop working.