DRM: Doesn't Really Mean Digital Copyright Management

Copyright is a legal system embedded in a larger technological system. In order to examine the functions of copyright it is critical to examine the larger technological context of copyright: analog media and printed paper in particular. The copyright system includes both the explicit mechanisms implemented by law and the implicit mechanisms resulting from the technologically determinant features of paper and print. In order to prevent confusion between the legal, technical, and economic elements I refer to the whole as "copy accurate".Digital rights management design should explicitly address legal issue in copyright and economics of paper, technology of mass produced analog media, and print culture. An examination of that entire system (copy accurate) yields a return to first principles for the design of digital rights management systems.