DRM (Digital Rights Management) has nearly become a mainstream term these days. Google News is scattered with headlines containing some mention of DRM, especially considering EMI's bold announcement that they will drop this technology from iTunes' catalog. But have no fear, DRM is alive and well at the Zudeo/Vuze camp.

Azureus is one of the top clients that have filled the BitTorrent landscape. Its popularity has been fueled by open source nature, massive collection of third party extensions, and cutting edge development. Yet this aspect alone is not enough to maintain itself as a premier application. BitTorrent, Inc. has been plugging hard at promoting its new BitTorrent Entertainment Network (BEN) media outlet. And whether it’s been successful or not matters little, the BEN and BitTorrent, Inc. have been stealing the media spotlight for the better part of 8 months.

Not to be left behind, Azureus introduced a similar entertainment network code-named Zudeo in December of 2006. Similar to the BEN, Azureus' entertainment network has collected a decent array of both creative commons, user submitted, and mainstream media. Zudeo allows just about anyone from aspiring semi-professional artists to some kid with a video camera to publish material for the world to see. Much of the content is free and without any type of copyright protection. And like the BEN, some bigger name entertainment firms have climbed on the BitTorrent distribution band wagon. One of Azureus' biggest catches was in December and February, when the BBC and Starz Media came on board with a collection of download-to-own DRM entertainment. Or as some like to call it "premium content."

The term "premium content" has become synonymous with DRM material, thanks to vast media coverage of Vista’s PMP (Protected Media Path.) PMP is a DRM device inherent in Microsoft Vista, which protects "premium content" from being displayed at high definition on VGA monitors, and ostensibly from being recorded at full resolution. Because of the continuous dialog on Vista DRM and premium content, anything that is labeled "premium content" immediately raises the DRM-concern flag.

And yes, Azureus' Zudeo/Vuze outlet contains its fair share of DRM - much like the BEN. Material that Starz Media sells is wrapped within a DRM environment, as is BBC content. The difference between BitTorrent, Inc. and Azureus however, is Ashwin Navin and Bram Cohen has been aggressively vocal against DRM, while Azueus has been noticeably quiet.