Digital rights management is becoming more important as we head
towards chargeable content. Danny Bradbury finds out more.
What is DRM and why do we need it?
Digital rights
management (DRM) is the generic term for technologies that enable
content providers to protect their material. In many cases,
companies using DRM are able to build specific rights into their
systems that enable end-users to do specific things with the
content that they download.
For example, a DRM system could allow a document to be downloaded
and viewed twice, but might require a payment to be made if it is
to be viewed more than that. Or it might enable customers to pay to
unlock chapters of an e-book, or to allow just the first 10 seconds
of a video clip to be viewed, requiring payment for viewing the
rest.
The need for DRM is increasing as the Internet becomes more
content-centric. The general ambivalence towards a free Internet
supported by advertising revenues is growing, based largely on the
general dotcom crash, and in particular on the ailing fortunes of
many companies that were relying on advertising for their profits.
Companies are exploring charging models for content as an
alternative revenue stream, but they're understandably worried by a
lack of content security, leading to potential piracy
problems.
You will find DRM mentioned in the same breath as e-books, online
music (especially post-Napster), and online video, although the
potential for the latter is limited by the bandwidth currently
available to consumers.
Who is proposing it?
There have been various DRM
proposals, dealing with legal and technical issues. On the legal
side, the most recent and broadest in scope was the proposal of a
draft bill in the US, called the Security Systems Standards and
Certification Act (SSSCA).
It stipulates that all new interactive devices designed to display
content must have a security technology built in to avoid the
playing of unauthorised content. The 1998 Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA), which is now law, prohibits the circumvention
of copyright protection.
On the technical side, the Secure Digital Music Initiative, is a
standards movement designed to protect online music, which has the
support of over 180 companies. Unfortunately, commercial devices
supporting the technology are thin on the ground. Also in the frame
is the 4C Entity, a group including companies such as IBM and
Intel, which has produced a content protection technology called
the Content Protection for Recordable Media standard, designed to
protect content when copied to devices such as MP3 players. The 4C
Entity group is a member of the SDMI consortium.
Who is opposing it?
Most libertarian groups with any
technology expertise, are fighting the DRM advocates. On the legal
side, the Anti-DMCA group has been busy protesting against US
copyright protection law because it considers the DMCA too
restrictive. Hi-tech companies like Intel and Compaq are opposing
the SSSCA draft bill (which is supported by content providers like
Disney) because they consider it to be an overtly intrusive move by
the government into the commercial sector. Supporters of Russian
hacker Dmitry Sklyarov are also against the DMCA.
He was charged with contravention of the DMCA after he presented
details of a technology to crack Adobe's eBook reader software. The
SDMI group's activities have similar overtones - it challenged the
hacker community to have a go at cracking its software, and then
issued a lawsuit to muzzle several hackers and prevent them from
revealing how they succeeded.
What is the biggest obstacle for DRM?
Most opponents of
DRM seem to be at odds with restrictions surrounding the
technology, (because DRM itself is not secure) rather than opposing
the technology itself. Successful attempts to crack these
technologies have created some instability in the industry, as
companies are understandably unwilling to commit to a flawed,
insecure standard.
Another obstacle for DRM is the lack of standardisation. SMDI only
deals with digital music but there are other forms of technology to
contend with, not to mention things like software licence
management, which overlap into the DRM area. With more than one
technology floating around, manufacturers are loath to commit to
one solution for their devices; and content providers can feel
bewildered about which DRM product or technology to use.
How can I use it?
In spite of the confusion over
standards and the worry about cracked standards, all is not lost -
even with all these problems DRM is better than unprotected content
if you're trying to run a content-based business. And there are
various companies out there who can help you. Microsoft, for
example, has a DRM server for its Windows Media player. The
advantage here is that it integrates the server, desktop player and
PDA-based media players. Intertrust also offers a tailored system
for DRM. Companies are already using DRM to good effect; Audible
(www.audible.com), for example, uses its own player to manage
digital rights for audio books, which it sells online.
www.sdmi.orgwww.4centity.comwww.anti-DMCA.org