Digital Rights Management


By Bernhard Warner and Lucas van Grinsven

LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - If technology firms like Sony (6758.T) and
Microsoft (MSFT.O) have their way, songs and movies will expire after a
single play -- unless you pay the copyright holder their due.

The technology that makes this possible -- known as digital rights
management, or DRM -- will forever change the way we consume media and
software, experts believe.

Software and media companies continue to push new content security
initiatives, each plugging their own version of DRM that aims to protect
content from unwelcomed eyes. In the near future, emails, spread sheet
programs and Webpage content alike will be secured with digital locks.

Sun Microsystems (SUNW.O) said this week it plans to roll out new software
to protect copyrighted content stored on mobile phones and smart cards.
Meanwhile, Warner Music released the new Steely Dan album "Everything Must
Go" on CD and DVD Audio, the latter being an encrypted, "rip-proof"
format.  The biggest market for content security is expected to be
corporations, government agencies and hospitals who need to keep sensitive
data from falling into the wrong hands. But so far, it's the media
companies that have made most noise about DRM.

Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and recording labels have been fitting
new CD and DVD releases with layers of computer code with the aim of
preventing or limiting users' ability to copy, or "rip," them onto a blank
disc and trade online.

Consumer electronics companies such as Sony and Nokia (NOK1V.HE) have
stepped into the mix too, installing DRM systems into new hi-fi systems
and hand-held devices to ensure copyrighted materials aren't reproduced
and transferred from gadget to gadget without consumers paying for it.

The media barons insist that if consumers are going to listen to music and
view movie clips and news headlines on any gadget with a screen, then the
rights holders must be paid.

Media firms acknowledge they are treading a sensitive line between
preserving copyrights and satisfying the consumer. A system that
introduces too many limitations will most certainly end in bad PR and a
consumer backlash.

"We have to find ways to mitigate piracy caused by open (technology)
formats. But at the same time we have to meet consumer demand for these
formats," said Barney Wragg, vice president of Universal Music's
(EAUG.PA)(V.N) eLabs, a technology R&D unit for the world's largest record
label.

Last year, record label Sony Music came under fire when new European CD
releases by artists Celine Dion and Shakira wouldn't play on a PC or
Apple's (AAPL.O) Macintosh computer.

A lot of the early bugs have been dealt with, and record companies say
they will continue to roll out new copy-protected discs and offer online
downloads that expire after a few listens based on the latest DRM systems.

But a large complication still looms -- the lack of unified standards.

DRM technologies come in a variety of flavors, pushed by device makers
such as Philips (PHG.AS) or software firms like Microsoft, which will
equip its Office 2003 software suite with user controls designating who
can print, copy or forward data.

Last year, Sony and Philips acquired Intertrust, the pioneering American
digital rights firm and holder of the most DRM patents, for $450 million.
The duo's clout, it is hoped, will bring gadget makers and software firms
onto the same page.

"It's very important to have collaboration and not confuse the consumer,"
said Mike Tsurumi, the European chief of Sony's electronics arm.

Disney is launching a pilot DVD-rental program that uses
self-destructing DVDs.  The idea is that the DVD has a coating that
oxidizes after a few days, rendering the DVD unreadable.

I think this is a very clever security countermeasure.  The threat is
regular consumers.  Disney wants to be able to rent DVDs to them at a
price-point lower than their sale price.  By making a DVD that only
lasts a few days after being taken out of the package, Disney has
solved the problem of needing an infrastructure to process DVD returns.

Of course this doesn't solve the problem of making illegal copies of
the DVD, but that's not the problem that Disney is trying to
solve.  Self-destructing DVDs are a clever solution for a specific
security problem, and if it works well it's likely to be a cheap and
effective one.  (Compare this to Circuit City's superficially similar
DIVX format, which also had expiring DVDs, but required a phone line
and special player.)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030516/tc_nm/media_disney_dvds_dc