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

Hybrid Fixed-Mobile P2P Superdistribution

The Internet and the cellular telephony system are the two most influential communication systems of the last years. The arrival of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) promises to help service providers to deploy a complete array of real-time, customized business and consumer multimedia services over any access network. IMS is an integrated solution that defines a generic architecture for offering Voice over IP (VoIP) and advanced multimedia services. This project describes a hybrid fixed-mobile peer-to-peer superdistribution system deployed over an IMS platform. This superdistribution service is aligned with the current interests of telecommunication operators that desire to offer services with large user acceptance and that involve a massive access to the service without collapsing their network infrastructure. Operators can increase their revenues for connectivity and Digital Rights Management (DRM)-based license distribution of the multimedia content, depending on the content and on the desired business model

Conceptual Model and Security Requirements for DRM Techniques Used for e-Learning Objects Protection

This paper deals with the security problems of DRM protected e-learning content. After a short review of the main DRM systems and methods used in e-learning, an examination is made of participators in DRM schemes (e-learning object author, content creator, content publisher, license creator and end user). Then a conceptual model of security related processes of DRM implementation is proposed which is improved afterwards to reflect some particularities in DRM protection of e-learning objects. A methodical way is used to describe the security related motives, responsibilities and goals of the main participators involved in the DRM system. Taken together with the process model, these security properties are used to establish a list of requirements to fulfill and a possibility for formal verification of real DRM systems compliance with these requirements

Scenarios and system dynamics of mobile peer-to-peer content distribution

Vertaisverkkoteknologian menestys kiinteissä verkoissa on johtanut vertaisverkkototeutuksiin myös mobiileissa verkoissa. Mobiilin vertaisverkkoteknologian tulevaisuuden suhteen on tosin vielä paljon epävarmuutta, koska operaattorit ja muut sidosryhmän jäsenet, jotka kärsivät laittoman tiedostonvaihdon seurauksista kiinteän verkon puolella, pelkäävät saman tapahtuvan myös mobiileissa verkoissa. Täten he saattavat yrittää estää mobiilin vertaisverkkoteknologian kehittymistä. On myös epävarmaa onko mobiilille vertaisverkkoteknologialle tarvetta loppukäyttäjän näkökulmasta, eritoten kun mobiililaitteiden suorituskyvyt ovat huomattavasti alhaisempia kuin kiinteiden. Tämä diplomityö keskittyy mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakeluun. Sisällönjakelu on jaettu tiedostonvaihtoon, sisällön suoratoistoon ja kaupallisiin sisältöjärjestelmiin. Työ antaa näkemystä mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelun olennaisimpiin skenaarioihin, sidosryhmän jäseniin ja heidän kannustimiin. Mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelun epävarmuutta rajataan käyttämällä skenaarioanalyysiä ja mallinnetaan systeemidynamiikalla. Olennaisimmat skenaariot rakennetaan Schoemakerin metodilla ja niiden mallinnusta yritetään systeemidynamiikan keinoin. Tuloksena saadaan neljä eri skenaariota, jotka on kehitetty brainstorming -tilaisuuksissa ja kirjallisuuskatsauksessa löydettyjen avaintrendien ja -epävarmuustekijöiden perusteella. Skenaarioiden kvantitatiivisen mallinnuksen sijaan mallinnetaan skenaarioihin perustuvan mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelujärjestelmän dynaamista käyttäytymistä. Vaikka joitakin mobiilia vertaisverkkoteknologiaa hyödyntäviä sovelluksia on jo kehitetty ja käytössä, sekä aihetta tutkittu laajasti, vieläkin on epävarmaa mikä teknologian vaikutus tulee olemaan. Tämä diplomityö esittää mahdollisia vaikutuksia teknologialle ja antaa lähtökohdan tulevalle mobiilien vertaisverkon sisällönjakelujärjestelmien kvantitatiiviselle mallinnukselle. Systeemidynamiikka on toteuttamiskelpoinen vaihtoehto tavallisemmille mallinnustekniikoille, kuten taulukkolaskentamallinnukselle, jonka etuna on järjestelmän takaisinkytkentäsilmukkojen mallintaminen. Kun mobiili vertaisverkkoteknologia kehittyy, enemmän dataa tulee saataville ja vaihtoehtoisten systeemidynamiikkamallien rakentaminen on suositeltavaa.The success of peer-to-peer technology in the fixed networks has led to peer-to-peer implementations in the mobile networks as well. There is, however, a lot of uncertainty regarding the future of mobile peer-to-peer technology as the operators and other stakeholders that were affected negatively by illegal peer-to-peer file sharing in the fixed networks are afraid that it might happen in the mobile domain as well. Thus they might try to prevent mobile peer-to-peer technology from emerging. There is also the question whether there really is a need for peer-to-peer technology in the mobile domain from the end users' perspective, especially as the mobile device capabilities are considerably lower compared to the fixed ones. This thesis concentrates on mobile peer-to-peer content distribution. Content distribution is divided to file exchange, content streaming and commercial content systems. The thesis provides insight to the most relevant scenarios, stakeholders and their incentives related to mobile peer-to-peer content distribution. The uncertainty regarding mobile peer-to-peer content distribution will be bounded using scenario analysis and modeled using system dynamics. The most relevant scenarios regarding mobile peer-to-peer content distribution are constructed using Schoemaker's method and modeling of these scenarios is attempted with system dynamics. As a result four different scenarios are developed based on the key trends and uncertainties discovered during the literature review and brainstorming sessions. Instead of modeling the scenarios quantitatively, the dynamic behavior of a mobile peer-to-peer content distribution system based on the scenarios is modeled with system dynamics. Although there are some mobile peer-to-peer content distribution applications already developed and used, and the topic is considerably researched, it is still uncertain what the outcome of the technology will be. This thesis presents possible outcomes for the technology and provides a starting point for further quantitative modeling of mobile peer-to-peer content distribution systems. System dynamics provides a viable alternative to more common modeling techniques such as spreadsheet modeling, with a distinctive benefit of modeling the feedback loops in a system when used proficiently. As the mobile peer-to-peer technology evolves, more data becomes available and the construction of alternative system dynamics models is encouraged

IP, phone home: The uneasy relationship between copyright and privacy, illustrated in the laws of Hong Kong and Australia

published_or_final_versio

Mobile Music Distribution: A Multichannel Approach

In contrast to what is happening in the Internet-based scenario, the music market in the mobile scenario is far from beingconsidered a large success. Several studies state that excessive downloading time and high cost are the main burdens.Motivated by the growth of social and mobile applications, in this paper we propose an approach that aims at reducing both the downloadingtime and the cost to get digital music when acquired in the mobile scenario. The proposed architecture exploits the usage ofpersonal communication technologies embedded in cellphones (e.g., Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) to couple the current distributionmodel (mainly based on 3G networks), so as to provide a multichannel distribution model where users are free to redistributedigitalmusic. The architecture includes a license-based securitymechanism that prevents unauthorized usage of digitalmusic, and makes use of an incentive mechanism to stimulate and reward the music distribution among customers. By analyzing pros and cons of the music distribution chain, results show that the proposed architecture might help in reducing both the downloading time and the cost to get digital music when acquired in the mobile scenario. Therefore, it might be helpful to the success of the mobile music scenario

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

Interoperability of DRM Systems

The study deals with the cutting-edge subject of electronic contracts which have the potential to automatically process and control the access rights for (electronic) goods. It shows the design and the implementation of a rights expression exchange framework. The framework allows DRM systems to exchange electronic contracts, formulated in a standardized rights expression language, and thus provides DRM system interoperability. The work introduces a methodology for the standardized composition, exchange and processing of electronic contracts or rights expressions