means Technology that restricts what you can do with media or software you've bought—copy it, modify it, share it, or even access it after the company vanishes.

from Born in the 1990s when the music and film industries panicked about internet piracy. The DMCA (1998) made it illegal to even break these locks, creating a legal moat around technological control. Record labels pushed it hardest; Apple's iTunes initially used it on songs until they realized customers hated it.