As far as the effects it's had with sites we've implemented it on, they are as various as the degrees to which it's been implemented.

We've used DRM for PPV type solutions. We've used DRM to implement almost draconian type protective measures on content. We've used DRM for very basic protective needs that surfers haven't even really noticed. For promotional tools (giving out free content that expires after a little while and directs the user to the website at that point). All kinds of things. And it's been great with all fo them.

Suffice to say we're quite fond of it. There have, at times and more dependent on the manner in which it was introduced to the site than the fact that it was in the first place, been complaints by members about DRM. But I'm of the belief that for ever member pissed off and alienated at the implementation of DRM, there are 5 more new members who never would have paid for the content at all were it not for DRM. And that it pays for itself. It's most definitely had a positive effect on sales, from what we've observed in the 10 or so sites we've implemented DRM on to. Across the board. We've been able to decrease bandwidth costs with these sites while at the same time increasing recurring memberships.

It should be noted real quick that there are a great many different degrees to which DRM can be implemented on a site and applied to the content. For example with some sites the owners wanted to require people to have an active membership for the license to be valid. On others, the licenses never expire and the DRM just exists to make sure they can't view the file on any computer but the one the license was initially acquired on. On others, the license required reacquisition every 2 days. On others, it was incorporated in to PPV or was used more as a tracking mechanism than anything else (tracking time the user was viewing files to count it against their PPV account balance).

I'm a big fan of it and I'd very much like to see the day come where all sites with original content used it.