The web has become an application delivery platform, like it or not. While there are arguments against forcing DRM on consumers, for video production workflows and project management, DRM is a necessity. I'm assuming you've worked with private Github repos with access control, right? Same idea.
How are private Github repositories using the same idea? Normal access controls are just implemented at the data source, limiting read (or write) there. DRM is implemented in the hardware of the user so that some programs that the user uses can access the data, but not those programs fully under control of the user.
If you can access a Github repository then you can do so with software fully under your control (and hence make copies of the data as you wish). Did I miss something?
Okay, so maybe not the best analogy. Contact access expiration via git is far more primitive, sure - if you have access today you can clone a private project and have a snapshot of it in that state, once your access rights are revoked you just won't see any further work. Unfortunately, this 'freedom' leads to far more problems than it solves - horrible corporate bureaucracies around where you may or may not check code out to, remote wipe capability, contractor laptops, etc. There are many real-world use cases where, in order to accomplish the completion of a project, you need to provide an external resource with access to sensitive data for a limited amount of time. Think manufacturing, commercial video production, medical data, game development - pretty much anything where you outsource a specific phase of product development to a third party. Without DRM, these workflows are limited to online-only, where assets are streamed and can't be stored locally. This is a dealbreaker when, for example, you need to send part specs to a manufacturer in the middle of China.
>There are many real-world use cases where, in order to accomplish the completion of a project, you need to provide an external resource with access to sensitive data for a limited amount of time.
Well, then there are many real world use case that are not doable in our version of reality, where data can be copied ad infinitum, and where you NEED to show the end user unencrypted data.
A political necessity, certainly not a technical one. The default state of content is open, restricting it should be seen for the positive (read: affirmatively taken) action that it is.
