| In a traditional model the Rights Management is a
linear model and one
that is imposed by the copyright holder through it's intermediaries and
vested parties down the line into the market place and unto the
consumer. All these traditional models are being technologically challenged today. Industries yet to be challenged - Banking & Finance, Construction, Legal, Insurance The starting point for any DRM system should be - "How can I protect the Consumer and Content Producer's rights equally?" In many cases the Consumer and the Content Producer are one and the same person (using the one Distribution/Communication Infrastructure). Those who upload their photos onto Flick'r are the Producers but also the very people who consume the content. It's the same story for Blogs, Wikis, Community sites, Message Boards, Peer-To-Peer sites, etc. Now these truths are self-evident to those who use these tools and channels - but for a lot of people these very fundamental notions are a mystery to them. If I pay for the computer, the ISP connection, the storage, the backup, the security software, the electricity, etc - how the hell is any of the stuff I download free? Also if I contribute in a peer-to-peer system then I am part of a decentralised, distributed network. Therefore I am now Content Provider, Distributor, part of the Medium and part of the Marketplace. And also the end-user. That is why any DRM system must protect all rights equally - otherwise I'm incriminating myself and crippling my system at the same time as providing a flawed product. Any DRM system has to meet three basic requirements: 1. Cross-platform. 2. As protective of the Consumer's rights and products as it is of the Content Producer's. 3. Non-proprietary. DRM can be a "win-win" for all involved: - Content Producers can have more imaginative licensing arrangements - there is no advantage in having an unbreakable but inflexible rights policy if no one is willing to pay for the rights to use your content. By being more imaginative you get the appreciation of the marketplace and it also allows you to play the long game in terms of content that benefits from the "Long Tail" effect. - Distributors can cut the cost of distribution by giving the end-user the distribution tools and thus levering the advantage of the Internet and also having a huge virtual distributed, decentralised distribution system. The trick for the Distributor is not to get too greedy - when some online music sites charge as much for a download per song as a physical CD costs per song, then they are trying to maintain a "going market rate" by comparing apples and oranges! If they play the long game also then they can't lose. - Media can leverage the content on their sites through a DRM system to become more than just a place to get content but also as a destination to store that content and thus become the "Media Bank" for users. A service more and more people will pay a premium for - it only takes a few catastrophic hardware crashes to convince people how temporal their digital bits are! - Consumers can benefit enormously from have a DRM system that certifies their content as theirs. This becomes hugely beneficial when the Consumer fulfills their other role as Content Producer. Any DRM system that protect the stuff I buy but also digital signs the stuff I create is a huge bonus, as I can then post it online and benefit from any commercial activity that derives from it. |
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