It would be all too easy to declare the DRM wars over. With the recent addition of the Sony BMG catalog to the Amazon MP3 store, all of the major labels have finally given in to consumer demands by allowing their music to be sold in an unrestricted digital format.

Unfortunately, DRM is anything but dead. There remains a pervasive belief among media executives that DRM can somehow protect content and intellectual property rights in the digital marketplace. This despite all evidence to the contrary. A quick glance at the leading online sources for legal downloads will confirm that DRM is still very much a part of the digital media landscape.

Both Amazon and Apple continue to use DRM to restrict access to video content. That’s no surprise considering film studios and television networks have long required DRM on all digital media products — a requirement that has done nothing to curb piracy.

Amazon also uses DRM to restrict Kindle eBook downloads. Given Amazon’s relationship with the major publishing houses, you might expect the company to use its influence to convince publishers that DRM actually limits consumer choice, thereby inhibiting the marketplace for digital content. After all, Amazon advertises DRM-free as a feature in its MP3 store — why not encourage publishers to follow suit?

As it is, the Kindle ties consumers to a single source for DRM-restricted content. That would be the Kindle content that publishers actually make money on. The Kindle ecosystem looks suspiciously like Apple’s iPod/iTunes ecosystem. The recording industry unwittingly created a de facto monopoly in the digital music marketplace by insisting that Apple use DRM in the iTunes music store. Publishers could be repeating that same mistake in the eBook marketplace.

As I’ve noted before, DRM punishes honest consumers. The pirates who want to steal digital content will do so whether or not the content is protected by DRM. Meanwhile, honest consumers are left with arbitrary limitations on digital media products that only work with specific devices. Worse yet, the content owners are increasingly finding themselves at the mercy of the DRM and device manufacturers who control the marketplace.

I’ll be speaking about this very issue tomorrow at the O’Reilly Media TOC conference. If you have an interest in the publishing industry TOC is the place to be this week. I hope to see some of you there.