The Publisher over Your Shoulder���
By Grant
Painter (bio)
- Introduction
- How it Works
- DRM technologies in the market
- Future Prospects
Emerging technologies offer content owners new control over the
distribution and use of digital intellectual property. Although these
technologies have been slow to develop in the marketplace, their implementation
could fundamentally change the distribution and sale of information for
publishers, consumers and libraries.
Introduction
When a library patron pulls a book off the shelf and takes it home
to read, there are no obvious strings attached. The reader can examine the item
as often as she likes, wherever she likes, and may copy portions of the text for
her personal use. As the owner of the book, the library is free to loan or even
resell it. Of course, librarians and responsible readers understand that there
are invisible restrictions, designed to protect the author and/or publisher by
discouraging unauthorized uses. The reader is legally constrained from excessive
copying and redistribution of the text, while the library's use may be limited
in accordance with license agreements.
With the increasing prominence of the Internet and other methods
of digital distribution, content owners are no longer comfortable simply
discouraging unauthorized behavior, and are experimenting with new methods to
prevent unauthorized uses by technological means. The problems of protecting
digital information are well publicized-digital content is easy to copy,
manipulate and redistribute. Many content owners now argue that the only way to
protect intellectual property from electronic pirates is to exercise complete
control over copying and other uses at all times, even after a customer has
purchased the content.
The new technologies, often referred to as Digital Rights
Management ("DRM"), extend from relatively simple copy control to more ambitious
schemes designed to specify 'usage rules'. The implementation of usage rules
could allow the content owner to attach many new strings to any purchased
digital information product, dictating how often and when the reader may access
the text, how much of the text the user may copy, and how the information is
redistributed. The comprehensive control offered by DRM technologies opens up
many new business possibilities for content owners, including pay-per-use,
time-limited rental and copying fees. Although the purpose of DRM technologies
is rooted in legitimate security concerns, many DRM companies and content owners
have begun to experiment with the technology's new opportunities for extracting
value from consumers. While readers may not be reduced by these strings to
complete puppets (they can at least interpret the information as they wish) they
may soon find that they are no longer purchasing a book or video, but a set of
very limited rights to access information.
How it Works
The simplest technological control measures have been around for
years and are familiar to many librarians and researchers. These systems limit
access to a class of authorized users through an authentication process, like
simple password systems or IP source filtering. Although the content is
protected from theft by outside parties, no further barriers prevent
unauthorized activity once the user gains access.
More recent technological approaches have focussed on preventing
certain behavior by authorized users as well as intruders. Although there are
several approaches to this level of control, most DRM technologies share a few
common features. First, the DRM technology usually encrypts the information to
provide persistent protection. While encryption ordinarily involves exchanging
keys to decrypt transmitted files, DRM encryption often conceals the key from
the end user, since the user must never have full access to the information.
Many DRM systems use encryption as a way of packaging information along with
associated rules in a "box" or "envelope". Encryption may also limit content to
a particular device by using an identification number in the device as a part of
the encryption key.
A second common element in DRM systems is a method for overriding
existing operating system capabilities, allowing access to the encrypted text
only in accordance with the specified usage rules. This element can be a special
software program, a special purpose chip installed in a user device or even a
Java application. DRM systems also depend on secure payment methods, including
credit cards, micro-payments from an established account (a 'digital wallet'),
or pre-charged smart cards. The DRM software or device communicates with an
external server or smart card to authenticate the user's purchased rights,
selectively decrypts the content in accordance with the rights, and prevents
activities not included in those rights. For example, a DRM system can prevent
printing, disable copying or prevent cut/paste operations. Alternately, these
functions may be allowed for a fee, or for a limited number of uses.
A DRM system also may keep a record of the user's activity.
Metering and tracking is essential to DRM technology because it allows the
content seller to verify that information is only accessed as specified by the
usage rules. The metering and tracking capability allows the DRM to change the
status of the content in accordance with user activity, an important feature if
access rights are limited to a set number of uses. DRM systems may also include
a secure clock, allowing a content owner to set time limitations for access.
The effective copy control promised by DRM technology also allows
new ways to sell digital information via subscription, rental, trial offers,
etc. One of the most popular buzzwords advertised by new DRM companies is
'superdistribution'. Superdistribution allows content owners to profit every
time a user forwards content to a friend or colleague, since the DRM rights are
specific to one device and the new recipients would need to purchase access to
the file.
DRM technologies in the market
To date, DRM systems in the market are primarily concerned with
copy control. However, numerous DRM companies offer more ambitious systems,
including ContentGuard, IBM, Softlock, and Intertrust. Meanwhile, publishers,
record companies and others have expressed interest in comprehensive DRM
systems. One prominent attempt to control copying has been launched by the
recording industry in response to the perceived piracy threat from the popular
MP3 compression method. The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) is a
standards group devoted to developing specifications for protected audio
products. The specifications announced so far depend on digital watermarks as
triggers to verify the authenticity of SDMI files. Without the trigger, the SDMI
compliant device will not play the file. SDMI specifications also provide for
copying limitations and, in the future, compliance with usage rules.
Many companies also believe that effective DRM is a prerequisite
for the development of a market for electronic books. The recent Stephen King
eBook "Riding the Bullet" was sold in various copy-protected formats by DRM
companies Softlock, Glassbook, and others. A number of prominent software,
publishing and DRM companies have participated in the EBX group to discuss
possible standards for protection of electronic books. The draft specification
published by the group allows potential usage rules to be specified by the
publisher, including limited copying, time-sensitive usage and
superdistribution. The EBX draft specification relies on the idea that only one
copy of each purchased text can be active at any one time. As a result, the
method may allow transfer and loan capabilities crucial to libraries, although
these capabilities will be left within the discretion of the publisher.
Outside of EBX, several companies are distributing electronic
texts with the aid of DRM technologies. Along with many smaller companies,
Microsoft and Adobe have announced new reader software for electronic books,
incorporating DRM technology for content protection. Many DRM companies have
chosen to make their products compatible with Adobe's very popular PDF file
format, allowing easy access to millions of potential customers.
ContentGuard is a DRM subsidiary of Xerox, now being spun off as a
separate company with the aid of an investment by Microsoft. The company has
entered partnerships with Reciprocal (a DRM tracking company) and several
publishers to offer DRM-protected academic texts. ContentGuard is also a central
participant in the adoption of the XRML standard. XRML (Extensible Rights Markup
language) provides a standard terminology for description of permissible rights
attached to digital content.
Intertrust is one of the most established DRM companies, involved
in numerous partnerships to offer DRM protection to music, video and text. Like
other systems, Intertrust employs cryptographic envelopes, usage rules, and a
flexible method for resolving and authenticating purchased rights. Intertrust
has recently announced that its DRM solution will be included on millions of
disks distributing new AOL software, an important expansion of DRM technology
into a popular ISP/content platform.
Although many DRM marketing plans are aimed at mass-market
entertainment products, several companies have tailored their business models
directly to libraries and research institutions. Netlibrary charges an annual
fee for full access to a group of electronic texts selected by the library,
although only one copy of a work is available for use at any time. The system
discourages extensive copying by rendering texts one page at a time
(just-in-time decryption) and detecting suspicious printing patterns. Ebrary, a
forthcoming service, will allow full access to a universe of materials, but will
charge customers for printing or other additional services through an electronic
wallet system. MediaDNA sells access to individual scholarly journal articles
from various publisher partners through its "Knowledge Stor" Web site. MediaDNA
promises persistent copy control, usage rules specified by the publisher, and
the ability to prevent printing or copying in accordance with those rules.
Future Prospects
The most urgent advocates of DRM technologies are the industries
already involved in mass distribution of digital content-music and video.
Although electronic texts have increased in prominence in recent years, digital
distribution remains a tiny fraction of the publishing industry. However, the
growth of digital distribution combined with the widespread deployment of
comprehensive DRM technology could have serious consequences for the pattern of
knowledge distribution. If pay-per-use becomes prevalent, public access and use
of information could be discouraged, and research could suffer. Customers could
pay more for less information, while research institutions might face increased
costs.
DRM could also change the role of libraries, reducing their
effectiveness by imposing excessive restrictions on the distribution of
information. On the other hand, several DRM companies acknowledge the importance
of libraries to their strategy, although their approach may try to exploit the
library as a retail platform. For example, if the loan period for a
library-owned digital text expires, the DRM software may give the patron the
option of buying the product. A DRM system might also charge library patrons for
printing or copying digital files.
Before any of the dreams or nightmares of DRM are fully realized,
numerous obstacles and uncertainties remain. Content sellers will hesitate to
adopt DRM technologies if they perceive that the systems aren't really secure.
Although DRM systems offer varying levels of protection, most observers agree
that existing systems are vulnerable to resourceful and determined hackers. In
recent months, access control systems for DVD and music have been compromised by
groups of hackers in the U.S. and Europe. Increasingly elaborate DRM approaches
could improve security at the expense of easy market deployment and adoption.
Instead, DRM companies and content sellers may choose to protect their products
only from dishonest uses by 'honest' people (i.e. average users). Unfortunately,
if the DRM has any negative consequences for information access and use, then
only honest people will suffer.
A more serious obstacle to deployment is consumer acceptance of
the new DRM enabled business models. No one can accurately predict which systems
and business models will find success, although investors have been willing to
bet heavily on Intertrust and other DRM companies. While it is naïve to think
that consumers can simply reject DRM and hope it goes away, many of the business
models now in the experimental stage will fail. Consumer resistance will
certainly derail some sales methods, while confusion over standards and market
interoperability will delay deployment of others. While the digital future will
certainly include some form of DRM technology, consumers and libraries still
have choices about what they buy, and there is hope that the desire to maximize
profits might actually limit the strings attached to new digital products.
Grant Painter completed a Master's degree in Communication,
Culture and Technology at Georgetown University in 1999. His primary research
interests are the social and economic dimensions of electronic commerce and
related technologies. He has been tracking developments in digital rights
management technology for more than a year.
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