DRM 3.0 - Privacy

Dennis McDonald posted a comment on my DRM 3.0 blogicle asking, "Did any of the industry folks you talked with say anything about possible privacy implications for "DRM 3.0" applications?" The direct answer is "yes and no."

Privacy issues turn, in my view, on what is done with information relating to user behavior. However, privacy is not the only issue raised by DRM 3.0 models.

Some ISPs are threatening to interdict and prevent the transfer of copyrighted media content (especially if that content belongs to large companies). If ISPs provide user specific information to the RIAA, MPAA, or other stakeholders that then becomes the basis for civil litigation or criminal prosecution, then privacy is obviously a major concern to all.

In view of Comcast and ATT's alleged Interdiction of P2P traffic, many organizations such as EFF and privacy advocates such as Lauren Weinstein have rightly made a big deal of this flagrant departure from network neutrality, the idea that ISPs deliver bits without discriminating on the basis of the application that caused those bits to traverse the net. All of us should support net neutrality and oppose Interdiction models. Period. Full stop.

Presently there is no consensus regarding business models for UGC content that has been identified as belonging to the major labels, studios, and networks (to mention a few rightsholders). Some of the applications I've seen can identify clips and the components of user created content mashups. It's unclear whether rightsholders will insist on Interdiction and / or turn to litigation.

Much more likely are business models that depend on associating advertising with UGC content and paying rightsholders a piece of the tic, so to speak. Why eliminate a potential revenue stream and alienate media consumers? The advertising based models can be implemented with out reference to the specific user who uploaded the content.

Some possible wrinkles are the users combine their own content with content from other rightsholders and want some share of the ad revenue. And it remains unclear whether or how the major UGC sites and content rightsholders will agree on how to divide ad based revenue or what advertisers might have to say about all this.

Stay tuned.