Now even consultants would normally be hard pressed to find an argument that customers want DRM controls protecting information. 

If you believe the modern anti-DRM blog sites, DRM is akin to the works of the (please pick a suitable negative deity suited to your particular persuasion).  Imposing controls on honest citizens is an affront to their dignity (let’s just not worry about speed traps because we don’t believe you can be trusted to obey the law). 

But, and this is serious, there are sectors of the community that want the protection of DRM controls.

One important group is the individuals or organizations that are buying training courses so that they can train themselves or their people so they can carry out licensed services and demonstrate that they have proven capabilities and expertise.  They are investing serious money in the enhancement and development of their staff and their businesses.  The last thing they want to see is competitors being able to undercut them because they haven’t paid the proper fees.  That is unfair competition from the unethical and unscrupulous.  Why should the honest and law abiding suffer at the hands of the dishonest?  Or is that the purpose of hacking?

Another group who demand DRM controls are those receiving confidential information.  Because when confidential information leaks out, the finger pointing starts, and absent DRM controls that can act to identify the actual source of a leak, then the selection of a scapegoat can commence.  So the presence of DRM controls helps protect the recipients of information, because it can help prove they were not the source of any leak or compromize.  And when it comes to keeping your reputation as well as your job, DRM can prove invaluable.

And a third group who want DRM controls are those who need to receive information but the owner of the information wants some actual certainty the information will be looked after properly.  In this group are the people who have to send out personal data that has to be human accessible.  This is the fastest growing group, because US regulation is now getting much more stern about encrypting personal data in computers.  It is now specifying that there has to be some management and control, and is going for tougher penalties to incentivise compliance.  Naturally, people sending out DRM controlled information are better placed to easily prove they did a good job.

So before you show me another web site about how bad DRM is and how it is that nothing should be DRM protected, just think for a moment about the fact that it is essential in some industries, and, that without it, your personal data can still be handed around without anyone being able to stop it.