- DRM can be used to tie your work to a single implementation if it doesn not use free standards. DRM based on a MS infrastructure would be a distaster, it might give you the control over your content, but it gives MS the control over how you create it. This would be the perfect lock-in.
That is absolutly true, especialy for the current DRM systems. They lend themselfes perfectly to lock in, because the decryption scheme is regarded intelectual property, thus unauthorized decryption by competing products can be regarded as infringement. This allows platform vendors to lock consumers AND content providers into their system, which only they (or those paying royalitoies to them) are allowed to sell...
That said, an open platform for authorization based content handling would be a good thing.
For mobile devices there is OMA: http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/publicmaterial.html
They are defining an XML container which includes the DRM information. The platform then just keeps itsel 'restrained' according to that container. That's easy, because in the mobile devices world, vendors have control over the platform.
I guess, that the OMA license requirements will also require implementors to build systems that can't circumvent the protection, but I didn't work through it.
- It's absolutely unclear if such "free standards based" DRM (and this is the only acceptable one IMHO) is possible at all. So maybe this whole discussion is useless. ;-)
While defining a DRM container is possible (as we all aggree), the problem is with the enforcment of that container on an open platform. 'Enforce' and 'open' just don't work well together I guess ;)
Christian compared this with law enforcement and mentined the balance between freedom and protection. I belive, that DRM has a more preemtive-approach on enforcement than traditional law enforcement. (Please, tell me when I'm off here, IANAL)
Traditionally, anyone breaking a law has to fear some sanctions. Applying this to digital content means: anyone not following the licensing terms under which content was provided to him has to fear sanctions. a) you don't need DRM for that, b) that's what copyright laws are for IIRC.
A DRM container like OMA alone is just a formal description of a license. It contains terms which tell the licensee what he may do and nay not do. An application that is able to read thos terms can help the licensee to adhere to the terms without having to understand and read every single word of a complicated license aggreement. When you put it like this, it doesn't sound so bad, does it?
People can still decide to not adhere to the license by not adhereing to thew terms rquired by the container, should their application permit them too. That's like someone deciding to break a law.
Cheers ~Lars
-- Lars Oppermann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sun Microsystems Inc. Software Engineer - StarOffice http://www.sun.com/staroffice
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