How DRM Won

Streaming media services are the ultimate form of copy protection—you never actually control the media files, which are encrypted before delivery, and your ability to access the content can be revoked if you disagree with updated terms of service; you’re also subject to arbitrary changes in subscription prices.

Since streaming services host the multimedia content and send it to you upon each request for playback, they can always deny the request. Netflix streaming content sometimes features impending expiration dates. In April, Netflix decided to limit access to two concurrent streams per subscriber, putting an end to years of informal password sharing between roommates, acquaintances, and family members.