Managing Rights Management

Fewer Rights Management Patents?

I haven't done a quantitative study, but I've had the impression over the past several months that patents dealing with rights management have been issued at a slower rate than in the past while at the same time there seems to be more patents dealing with watermarking issuing. It may be that those with fundamental patent portfolios relating to rights management such as Intertrust, ContentGuard, and perhaps Macrovision and increasingly Microsoft have pretty much exhausted the most fertile areas and that subsequent inventions will of necessity be much narrower in scope.

A few years ago, a well-respected senior computer scientist opined that the most important work in watermarking had not yet been done. Contrasted with rights management, it may be the case that researchers are finding watermarking a more fruitful area for innovation and patenting.

The US Patent Office issues new patents on Tuesdays. Issued patents and published applications  may be early indicators of the kinds of issues being addressed by inventors and/or the companies for whom they work. Assigned to Kaleidescape, Inc., the first  patent addresses watermarking and fingerprinting digital content using alternative blocks to embed information. Assigned to Musicrypt, the first of today's patents entails a biometric rights management system. 

Entitlement Management For Next Gen Broadband Systems

Telephony Online says in a worthwhile article that entitlement management systems are the next important evolution in back office systems for broadband services. Snippets:

The Electronic Money Mill

This is perhaps a bit off topic.

While Googling  around the Web in search of some information on quantum cryptography, Vernam cyphers and other similar esoterica, I came across a Web-published novel called The Electronic Money Mill apparently published pseudonymously by one Xavier I. Quennel.

DRM & Telecom

Billing World & OSS Today has a long feature article on telecom and DRM. Worth a read. A couple of snippets:

Content goes against traditional billing and OSS paradigms such as for voice, which is based on origin and destination. The rights to content drive billing for characteristics of the service provided: How long does the user have access to a movie? Was the customer able to share a video clip with a friend? Do multiple users in a household have access to the content? How many plays did a customer get in a game? Any special feature or use can make content more valuable. "What you're rating" Steffen [Telution Chief Executive Officer Kent Steffen] says, "is really complex."

The rights to content are also driving the business models, as well as the business support systems that support these business models.

Peppercoin picked by Wurld Media for P2P payments

According to Mass High Tech, Waltham, MA-based Peppercoin will provide Wurld Media with it's microtransaction software, enabling Wurld Media to legally sell digital content through its Peer Impact P2P Network.

Payments News / Glenbrook

Those interested in payments may wish to subscriber to Payments News, a useful blog dealing with a broad range of payment issues. The RSS-minded will find the appropriate news syndication buttons there as well.