this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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Explain Like I'm Five
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If you want an actual ELI5:
Bad DRM is like bad parents. When you want a new toy, and you're 5 years old, you have to ask your parents to get it for you; you can't just go get it yourself if you want to. Lets say you want a new bicycle. You ask your parents to get you a new bicycle, and they get one for you! But, they say that you're only allowed to ride your bicycle between 10 and 11pm. They also tell you that you can't ride your bicycle with 2 feet, or 2 hands, you have to use 1 foot and 1 hand. On weekdays, 10pm is past your bedtime so you really can't ride it at all. On weekends, it's dark out at 10pm most of the year so it's really hard to see. The few times you do get to ride it, it's really hard to ride because you can only hold on with 1 hand and pedal with 1 foot.
Even with good DRM (parents) that let you ride your bicycle during the daytime and with both your hands and feet, they are always the ones in control. They might tell you today that you can ride your bicycle anytime and anyway you want, but if you get a bad grade, or they are just in a bad mood (for the adults: profit motivated) they can at any time exercise the control they have and take your bike away, or tell you that the only way you can use it are ways you don't want to use it.