Digital Rights Management and Consumer Acceptability: A Multi-Disciplinary Discussion of Consumer Concerns and Expectations

The INDICARE project – the Informed Dialogue about Consumer Acceptability of DRM Solutions in Europe – has been set up to raise awareness about consumer and user issues of Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions. One of the main goals of the INDICARE project is to contribute to the consensus-building among multiple players with heterogeneous interests in the digital environment. To promote this process and to contribute to the creation of a common level of understanding is the aim of the present report. It provides an overview of consumer concerns and expectations regarding DRMs, and discusses the findings from a social, legal, technical and business perspective. A general overview of the existing EC initiatives shows that questions of consumer acceptability of DRM have only recently begun to draw wider attention. A review of the relevant statements, studies and reports confirms that awareness of consumer concerns is still at a low level. Five major categories of concerns have been distinguished so far: (1) fair conditions of use and access to digital content, (2) privacy, (3) interoperability, (4) transparency and (5) various aspects of consumer friendliness. From the legal point of view, many of the identified issues go beyond the scope of copyright law, i.e. the field of law where DRM was traditionally discussed. Often they are a matter of general or sector-specific consumer protection law. Furthermore, it is still unclear to what extent technology and an appropriate design of technical solutions can provide an answer to some of the concerns of consumers. One goal of the technical chapter was exactly to highlight some of these technical possibilities. Finally, it is shown that consumer acceptability of DRM is important for the economic success of different business models based on DRM. Fair and responsive DRM design can be a profitable strategy, however DRM-free alternatives do exist too.Digital Rights Management; consumers; Intellectual property; business models

How does Technology Influence Online Music Access and Use? A Taxonomy of Empirical Studies

Based on the literature, a taxonomy of empirical studies that investigate online music systems is discussed in this paper. The studies presented discuss a number of related issues such as music sharing, security technologies like digital rights management (DRM), and changing business models. Research into online music systems is inherently cross disciplinary, and two main groups (industry/users) are identified to classify the research. The PhD research that this paper is based on has a user focus, however it is important to explore related groups and issues in order to adequately investigate. Therefore the taxonomy presented in this paper is significant as it provides an informative base from which to conduct further empirical studies into online music systems. To put the taxonomy into context, details of a current ethnography of online music systems is discussed

Aktualna pitanja i budući razvoj autorskopravne zaštite računalnih programa u europskom i hrvatskom pravu

Protection of computer programs through copyright is marked with distinctive limitations and exceptions compared to other categories of works. The nature of computer programs differs from other works protected by copyright. Its utilitarian nature and the role it plays in the information revolution offers insights into the long lasting struggle of intellectual property versus competition regulation. An examination of the formative moments of the development of copyright protection for computer programs reveals an opportunity to refine the status of software. Potential for misuse and endangerment of privacy call for open access to the source code and decompilation right as a recognized copyright limitation.Zaštita računalnih programa autorskim pravom obilježena je posebnim ograničenjima nositeljevih prava u odnosu na ostale kategorije autorskih djela. Priroda i upotreba računalnih programa kao zaštićenih djela razlikuje se od ostalih kategorija djela zaštićenih autorskim pravom. Poseban karakter računalnih programa i uloga koju računalni programi imaju u okviru informacijske revolucije pruža uvid u odnos prava intelektualnog vlasništva prema tržišnom natjecanju u suvremenom regulatornom okviru. Osvrt na razvoj autorskopravne zaštite računalnih programa podsjeća na ranije predloženu, alternativnu regulaciju, a recentni porast zloupotreba osobnih podataka i općenito privatnosti u digitalnom okruženju zahtijeva transparentniji pristup izvornom kodu i regulaciju dekompilacije kao specifičnog ograničenja prava na računalnom programu

Aktualna pitanja i budući razvoj autorskopravne zaštite računalnih programa u europskom i hrvatskom pravu

Protection of computer programs through copyright is marked with distinctive limitations and exceptions compared to other categories of works. The nature of computer programs differs from other works protected by copyright. Its utilitarian nature and the role it plays in the information revolution offers insights into the long lasting struggle of intellectual property versus competition regulation. An examination of the formative moments of the development of copyright protection for computer programs reveals an opportunity to refine the status of software. Potential for misuse and endangerment of privacy call for open access to the source code and decompilation right as a recognized copyright limitation.Zaštita računalnih programa autorskim pravom obilježena je posebnim ograničenjima nositeljevih prava u odnosu na ostale kategorije autorskih djela. Priroda i upotreba računalnih programa kao zaštićenih djela razlikuje se od ostalih kategorija djela zaštićenih autorskim pravom. Poseban karakter računalnih programa i uloga koju računalni programi imaju u okviru informacijske revolucije pruža uvid u odnos prava intelektualnog vlasništva prema tržišnom natjecanju u suvremenom regulatornom okviru. Osvrt na razvoj autorskopravne zaštite računalnih programa podsjeća na ranije predloženu, alternativnu regulaciju, a recentni porast zloupotreba osobnih podataka i općenito privatnosti u digitalnom okruženju zahtijeva transparentniji pristup izvornom kodu i regulaciju dekompilacije kao specifičnog ograničenja prava na računalnom programu