After years of work, Sun Microsystems has begun trying to rally corporate allies behind a neutral standard for digital rights management (DRM). Project DReaM is an open-source initiative that aims to develop an open content-protection solution.
DReaM's components include: software for letting different DRM systems inter-operate based on credentials held by individuals, not by particular devices; server software for delivering streaming video; and Java software for managing video streams.
Dario Betti, Senior Analyst at Ovum comments:
Comment: "Sun is playing the good guy here: pushing for the users' right to fair and simpler DRM, and a cheap solution for the industry. However, this seems to be a straight case of nice intentions versus the harsh realities of business. There are few incentives for content owners and service providers to sign up for such a scheme.
It is true that current DRM systems need to be shaken up a bit: they are not future proof. They are strictly proprietary and not interoperable (see Apple), too expensive (see the OMA DRM in the mobile world), or not flexible enough for innovative charging systems (almost all of them).
Sun is promoting a royalty-free DRM and codec standard. The industry should rejoice, but others have promised a royalty-free solution only to end up stepping on Intertrust and ContentGuard's patents. Moreover, there are already some well-established DRM solutions and codecs, and some early interoperable solutions. The industry needs a more sophisticated generation of DRM solutions and business models soon, Sun's promise of a committee-based and as yet still unformed DRM solution seems a long way off.
Is the content industry going to swallow the idea of a solution that is user rather than device based? It does sound good for the user: you could pay for a song once and it is yours for the rest of your life. But that goes against media industry business practices: switching from LP to CD, or from VHS to DVD meant big profits for the industry. Also, how effective would this system be against user identity loss - would it open up wider issues over security and piracy? We are not sure the media industry will rush to lend its support to DReaM."
www.ovum.com

Comments
Post new comment