DRM Interoperability

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DRM Interoperability
Lindsay Holman Director Panasonic OWL European
AVC Research Development Centre
Dialogue on Digital Rights Management Systems
(DRMs) Working Group II The Technology
Perspective 2nd October 2002
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Interoperability

• Definition of Interoperability
• What Interoperability means to different people
• Issues to be addressed
• Where are we today and what are the big issues?
• The Consumer perspective
• What has the consumer a right to expect?
• What should interoperability provide the
  consumer?
• What will make the consumer consume more ?
• The DRM Supplier perspective
• What drives the market?
• What are the threats and opportunities with
  interoperability?
• The Content Provider perspective
• What does the provider need?
• What will it take to accelerate content
  provision?

• Single or multiple solutions
• Is there a possibility of one solution?
• What can multiple solutions offer?
• Common approaches
• Who is working towards common solutions?
• Long term goals for Interoperability
• Summary of what needs to be achieved
• Short term goals for Interoperability
• What can be achieved in the near future?
• The role of pseudo-interoperability
• Summary

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Definition of Interoperability

• What it means to different people

• the condition achieved when two or more
  technical systems can exchange information
  directly in a way that is satisfactory to the
  users of the systems." - AAP
• But for what and at what level?
• Digital data types
• Player devices (physical / software)
• Metadata
• Rights Expression Languages (REL) (Rules)
• Content descriptions / IDs
• Associated content
• Commercial (transactions / billing / fulfilment)
• Physical (security, communications,infrastructure)
  

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Issues to be addressed

• Where are we today and what are the big issues?
• Many successful DRM Systems in operation
  worldwide
• Most operate in isolation and by default, have
  limited potential client base, and consumer
  market.
• Consumers frustrated at the need for multiple
  players and incompatible data, licenses and
  usage models.
• Interoperability will catalyse individual market
  domains (eg eBooks, Audio, Video)
• Interoperability should be achieved, per domain,
  by natural market forces, stimulated by
  supportive legislation.
• Open Industry forums should be actively supported
  and encouraged to sponsor potential solutions and
  drive de-facto uptake of interoperability
  mechanisms for specific domains.

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The DRM Supplier perspective

• What drives the DRM market?
• Content owners keen to see new revenue for the
  same material
• Consumers hungry for digital consumption
• Gap between supply and demand
• What are the threats and opportunities with
  interoperability?
• Suppliers established DRM business using walled
  Gardens
• Interoperability allows competitors to poach
  existing clients
• Existing DRM systems quickly reach client
  saturation due to limitations of walled Garden
  approach
• Licensing of proprietary technologies is
  lucrative until natural market limitations are
  reached.
• Interoperability can expand the reach of existing
  solutions
• Offers DRM businesses the opportunity to acquire,
  merge and aggregate services.
• Establishes framework for open next generation
  DRM-based commerce

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The Consumer perspective

• What does the consumer expect?
• to acquire and consume digitally as easily as in
  the current non-digital form.
• to be able to own material in perpetuity and
  to move, lend or gift that material as
  appropriate.
• To be guaranteed the ability to consume material
  in perpetuity.
• Less cost, more functionality, increased
  convenience, new exciting offerings.
• What should interoperability provide the
  consumer?
• Interoperability should be transparent
• Should provide content as easily as buying a book
  from Amazon
• Should not demand anything other than to choose,
  pay and consume.
• What will make the consumer consume more ?
• Access to more content, at a reasonable cost
• Access to quality, desirable content
• Ability to have a traditional way to consume
  material. (books, videos, audio etc).
• Offers of better, cheaper, more flexible and
  more exciting ways to consume material.
• Guaranteed accessibility and perpetuity of
  consumption

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The Content Provider perspective

• What does the provider need?
• Cost-effective platform for hosting digital
  content
• Ability to Host once only for all requirements
• Ability to reach all markets from one system
• Choice of business models
• Guaranteed provision of service (for back of
  house and consumer)
• What will it take to accelerate content
  provision?
• Low risk business profile
• Content security within industry norms
• Future-proofed hosting service
• Consumers hungry for content

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Single or multiple solutions

• Is there a possibility of one solution?
• Even within individual digital domains, there is
  a huge variety of content types and values
• varying needs of content delivery and models of
  consumption dictate different solutions.
• What can multiple solutions offer?
• More flexible and exciting ways to consume
• Guarantee that the best will win
• More choice for the consumer
• Framework for innovation and market growth that
  would be denied with a single solution approach.

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Common approaches

• Who is working towards common solutions?

• IRTF Internet Digital Rights Management (IDRM)
  Research Group
• Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard
  Metadata (PRISM) - PRISM Rights Language (PRL)
• ltindecsgt2rdd Consortium - Rights Data Dictionary
• IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee
  (LTSC) DREL Project (Digital Rights Expression
  Language).
• International DOI Digital Object Identifier
  Foundation (DOI)
• NewsML news agency content
• Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)
• TV-Anytime Digital multimedia
• SMPTE Digital Cinema

• Extensible Rights Markup Language (XrML)
  -Contentguard
• Extensible Media Commerce Language (XMCL) Real
  networks
• OASIS Rights Language Extensible Access Control
  Markup Language (XACML)
• Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL)
• Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)
• MPEG Rights Expression Language and Data
  Dictionary
• Open Ebook Initiative Rights and Rules Working
  Group
• Electronic Book Exchange (EBX) Working Group

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Long term goals for Interoperability

• Summary of what needs to be achieved
• Support for DRM technology vendors to work
  together in creating a secure, flexible, dynamic
  and exciting way for consuming digital content
  into the future.
• Guarantee for content owners of open access to
  consumer markets, and choice of DRM solutions.
• Transparency of use for Consumers, providing far
  more flexibility, utility and enjoyment than
  through traditional non-digital content models.
• Establishment of defacto interoperability
  methods for each digital domain.
• Ability to grow methods to address future
  requirements.

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Short term goals for Interoperability

• What needs to be achieved in the near future?
• Active support of, and contribution to existing
  individual Interoperability-focused industry
  forums and agreement on common goals
• Effective communication of common goals, and
  establishment of a digital friendly
  legislative, commercial and financial environment
  within the Member States, the EU and beyond.
• The role of pseudo(simulated) Interoperability
• DRM vendors working to aggregate services
• New Player technology which deals with
  different data types and DRM models.
• Pseudo/simulated - limited to number of DRM
  technologies bound together.
• Interoperable middleware between the DRM
  systems and the Consumer.
• Opportunity to examine efficacy of middleware
  as part of long term solutions.

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Summary

• Interoperability is a fundamental force behind
  acceleration of uptake of DRMs, and future growth
  of Digital Content markets.
• Interim solutions (DRM aggregators) to help
  accelerated uptake.
• Establishment, through voluntary industry bodies
  of interoperability methods for each digital
  domain, ensuring future flexibility for growth
  and diversification.
• Normal market forces must determine de-facto
  solutions.
• Active support of, and networking between
  existing individual Interoperability-focused
  industry fora (eg OASIS RL / MPEG21 REL / OMA)