Everyone knows that DRM is very frustrating and that it causes more problems than it fixes. At least until now, recently, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem announced a new scheme for DRM. It will basically store data on the cloud and before you view a movie or listen to music the software will check if you have permissions to view or listen to it. If they implement it right this will solve a lot of problems, but there could certainly be some problems.

There are some possible advantages to this. First, while RedBox is all the rage with there $1 movie nights, it’s going to go out of style faster than it gained popularity. Why? Online movie rentals.

If RedBox is smart, they’ll jump in right now, but even if they don’t someone will be doing this soon. Imagine sitting on your couch and deciding to rent a movie and using your remote to see what’s available or what you haven’t seen yet, paying for a 24 hour period to watch it, and streaming it right then. You don’t even need to return the movie. (This isn’t the same as pay-per-view because you’ll be able to watch it whenever you want to.) Of course, using the same system you can buy the movie and watch it whenever you want without paying more.

Anyway, that’s what I thought about when I read the news on DRM. What are your predictions?