While DRM has been used since the early days of digital content distribution, it has long been a source of controversy, with complex proprietary systems creating integration headaches for manufacturers and distributors, and preventing end users from legitimately sharing content across different devices and platforms.  The rise of digital piracy can even be part-blamed on the inflexibility of traditional DRM systems, with users resorting to file sharing as not only the cheapest, but also easiest way of accessing and sharing content. The perceived failure of DRM to stop piracy has led some stakeholders - most notably Apple - to abandon it in favor of 'watermarking' digital content and linking it to individual consumers, in order for leakage to be better tracked and file sharers more easily prosecuted.  However, this approach raises serious issues relating to the potential blacklisting and criminalization of users, particularly in the context of online identity theft. Arthur D. Little foresees three possible scenarios for DRM:

1. Continued fragmentation of proprietary DRM systems and continued limited fulfillment of stakeholders' needs
2. Gradual abandonment of DRM in favor of other content tracking techniques such as watermarking or fingerprinting
3. Emergence of next generation DRM system(s) that manage to balance end user needs with the requirements of all other stakeholders