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

Promoting Innovation and Economic Growth: The Special Problem of Digital Intellectual Property

There has been an explosion in the popularity of downloading and transmitting high-value digital content, triggered by the growth of the Internet and the evolution of peer-to-peer systems. At the same time, there is a substantial disconnect between public attitudes toward copyright and the letter of the law, and growing concern among copyright-holders over the erosion of their rights. The National Academy of Sciences has identified the phenomenon at the center of these developments and labeled it the "digital dilemma": The same technologies that allow the creation and manipulation of digital content (as well as its perfect reproduction and nearly free distribution) can also be used to prevent access to digital content. The result is a major policy debate between those who seek to protect their rights in digital content and those concerned about the public access to content that has traditionally been guaranteed under copyright law. In this emerging digital world, what, if anything, should be done to ensure that authors, artists, songwriters, and musicians have adequate incentives to create content? And what, if anything, should be done to protect the public's access rights, developed in the physical world, in order to encourage innovation and dissemination and to enhance the public domain? This report from the Digital Connections Council (DCC) of the Committee for Economic Development presents a different view of this "digital dilemma." Because of CED's mission to foster economic growth, the DCC has focused on the economic impact of copyright protection in the digital age and the potential economic effects of proposals for change. The report briefly explores the history of copyright law, revealing that legal protection of the rights of creators has always been explicitly balanced against protection of ongoing innovation. The DCC brings the perspective of the second innovator -- the creator of new social value based on existing copyrighted works -- to bear, noting that every creator owes a debt to what has come before. For this reason, our intellectual property systems are based on providing incentives to both create new material and to make such material open to the public for use for subsequent creation. The report then discusses current proposals for legislative and regulatory change, focusing on requests by the content distribution industries for technical copy protection mandates. Such mandates would have substantial effects on the information technology and consumer electronics industries in this country, on innovation, and on the economic growth that stems from the freedom to innovate

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

Legal challenges to future information businesses

The thesis studies new legal challenges to future information businesses: it presents an applicable research method, lists central legal challenges, and discusses the implications of those challenges. I have developed a scenario-based method that produces lists of legal challenges and helps to analyze them. The method highlights information products and services from commercial entity's viewpoint: other business aspects are paid less attention. Also, some specific characteristics of particular companies cannot be considered in a general method like this. Therefore challenges in legal areas such as tax law or competition law do not appear although in practice they can be relevant. The method is still able to point out numerous relevant legal challenges. The study focuses on the future: the time span is about two to ten years from now. The focus is on the business-to-consumer (B2C) market. The emphasis is on strategic product and service development. I have listed, analyzed, and discussed the future legal challenges that the method has found. I conclude that the most important legal challenges to future information businesses are within the areas of privacy and data protection; intellectual property rights; and contracts. I have also discussed the major distinguishers of businesses implying legal challenges. They help to point out the specific legal challenges related to a certain information product or service. Legal rules can affect businesses in many ways. At their best, they enable businesses, but too often they also harm useful activities. I conclude business drivers and hurdles that are important from the legal point of view.reviewe

Five essays on copyright in the digital era

This dissertation aims to give a detailed view of how well copyright law is working in the digital environment and how its future looks. The work starts by giving the reader a primer on two central topics in the dissertation, i.e., an overview of technological developments that have changed once again the environment of copyright law work and the economic background of copyright and IPRs. Different methodological approaches are also discussed e.g. how behavioral law and economics and public choice theory should be utilized pertaining to copyright regulation. The main research questions, which are covered in the five original articles, are: Do technical protection measures (TPMs) help to solve the impending demise of copyright? Is the legal enforcement of copyright possible in current or future digital environments? What is the role of social norms in the future of copyright? Regarding the first question, the dissertation argues that the once-prevailing vision of copyright that was based on the belief that without legally technological protection measures, right holders would not release their content to digital distribution has not really turned out to be true. In the contrary, the opposition from the users and profound technical problems have marginalized TPMs in music stores in more advanced markets (i.e. USA) and same development is likely to happen in other categories of works. The answer to second question indicates a more profound problem if the copyright holders cannot prevent unlicensed use of their works, the economic rationale of copyright disappears. The dissertation argues that the foreseeable technical development in digital communication and storage technologies will lead to that result with very high likelihood at least among more consumer-oriented works (music, video), which are typically consumed in the privacy of homes. At the same time the development will make current levy-based systems infeasible general tax for technology. The final question continues from the point where enforcement stops. Social norms may substitute legal norms, which are based on strong enforcement. The dissertation argues that there are positive examples from open source development that which indicate that this approach may be feasible for copyright

Collective management system in digital environment

Master'sMASTER OF LAW

BlogForever D3.3: Development of the Digital Rights Management Policy

This report presents a set of recommended practices and approaches that a future BlogForever repository can use to develop a digital rights management policy. The report outlines core legal aspects of digital rights that might need consideration in developing policies, and what the challenges are, in particular, in relation to web archives and blog archives. These issues are discussed in the context of the digital information life cycle and steps that might be taken within the workflow of the BlogForever platform to facilitate the gathering and management of digital rights information. Further, the reports on interviews with experts in the field highlight current perspectives on rights management and provide empirical support for the recommendations that have been put forward

La mise à disposition des œuvres et des informations sur les réseaux : régulation juridique et régulation technique

Technological developments lead to an exponential increase of the spread of works and information on the networks. Regulatory models from the analogical era based on physical medium scarcity and exclusivity are questioned by digital technology paradigms of copying, remixing and sharing. Copyright has been developed and adaptated at the same time than reproduction and dissemination technologies innovation, as an artificial corrective granting a limited monopoly of exploitation. But copyright can also lead to commons. We analyse how law and technology were conceptualised independently. Technical standards production process and the extension of exclusive rights are creating tensions between cultural industries and the public. This conception led to an intrication between regulation by law and technical protection measures, for the benefit of regulation by technology. Following research on lex informatica, we thus introduce a model based on the mutual influence between regulation by law and regulation by technology, toward legal categorisation redesign and an improved technical rights expression. The development of applications, ontologies and legal metadata allow to automate information and works exchanges management. Integrating regulation by law and regulation by technology, this model was built on the systematic analysis of various licensing models emerging on the networks, between access control and the constitution of Commons.Les développements techniques entraînent une croissance exponentielle de la circulation des œuvres et informations sur les réseaux. Les modèles de régulation de l'ère analogique élaborés sur la rareté du support sont remis en question par le numérique, fondé sur les paradigmes de la copie, de la réappropriation et du partage. Le droit d'auteur a été développé et adapté au rythme des innovations techniques de reproduction et de diffusion des œuvres, comme un correctif artificiel accordant une exclusivité temporaire d'exploitation. Il peut aussi conduire aux biens communs. Nous analysons comment droit et technique ont d'abord été pensés de manière indépendante. Les processus d'élaboration des normes et standards techniques et l'extension des droits exclusifs entraînent des tensions entre les industries culturelles et le public. Cette conception conduit à un enchevêtrement de lois et mesures techniques de protection au profit de la régulation technique. Nous proposons donc, dans la lignée de la lex informatica, un modèle fondé sur l'influence réciproque entre les disciplines, vers la reconception des catégories juridiques du droit d'auteur et vers une meilleure expression technique des droits. Le développement d'applications, d'ontologies et de métadonnées juridiques permet une automatisation de la régulation des échanges d'œuvres et d'informations. Mettant en œuvre une intégration plus équilibrée du droit et de la technique, ce modèle est notamment fondé sur l'analyse de licences et modèles contractuels qui se développent sur Internet, entre contrôle d'accès et biens communs