Grundner's Modest Proposal On Interoperability

Alexander Grundner, editor and publisher of eHomeUpgrade, has posted a blogicle regarding interoperability of DRM systems. The core of his idea is this:

Why doesn't the industry come together (possibly with help from the CEA) to create a neutral, embedded clearinghouse firmware application that will enable media players to identify non-native DRM wrapped media along with the ability to download the proper codec and DRM restrictions applicable for playback?

Interoperability among rights management systems is technically a most tricky issue. And there are business model implications as well. Let me deal with these first.

As many others have noted, DRM is being used not only to protect digital information, but as a basis for competitive advantage. Apple's FairPlay DRM in iTunes is an often cited example. Grundner's suggestion implies that numerous companies would forgo competitive advantage for wider use and revenue. This appears to be a likely outcome in the mobile space where the OMA standard provides standard may be implemented and supported widely. It's not clear whether something similar will happen in music and/or video distribution. Nonetheless, Grundner's suggestion might eventually be perceived as net positive for Apple and the others who would have to agree.

There, however, nasty technical issues that would have to be resolved. The most difficult one relates to the embedded firmware together with its external net accessible (I believe that this is what is being suggested) DRM clearinghouse. One of the reasons why one doesn't see more interoperability among DRM systems--apart from intellectual property and business issues--has to do with rules.  As noted in the sidebar to the left, rights management is about rules governing use and use consequences. The latter include payment and the authorized collection and reporting of use information. Some DRM systems support a relatively narrow set of rules; others support a diverse set of business models. For Grundner's idea to work, the device with the embedded application would have to know how to implement the broadest range of models and the semantics (language or code) in which they were defined. Not impossible, but difficult to pull off reliably.

Nevertheless, Grundner has proposed an idea worth thinking about. It's implementation, of course, will depend on the behavior of numerous large companies focused on short-term bottom line issues.

 

Comments

[Alexander Grundner]

Thanks for reviewing the post. I was just frustrated with Cory Doctorow's solution and felt that we needed something that would work seamlessly in the background and cover various distribution outlets (be it online, via a cellular provider, through a physical disc medium, whatever). For example, if you were to buy music from Napster or iTunes, the player would have no problem playing DRM wrapped content from either service as long as the group's library had been supplied with the proper codec and DRM usage terms in advance. The same would work for video, if say, someone got there hands on a DivX DRM wrapped video or any other future, non-mainstream copy protection technology. Bottom line: Consumers would be able to use any service they desire and feel confident knowing that their player would playback the content and respect the conditions set forth by its DRM. It's a straightforward idea in a not so straightforward digital media landscape.

Moreover, by having DRM providers signed on as group members, the members themselves can regulate each other and also respond to user feedback in a more uniform basis. In my post I write: "However, I suggest to be a part of this grandiose endeavor, companies must comply with certain principals held by all who partake (kind of like the "Do no evil" bit Google used to model itself after)."