Electronic content delivery is one of the future growing businesses in which Network Operators are especially interested. This interest is based on the available technical networks and the direct access to a broad number of end-users. There are also significant activities within the frame of CEC E-Content program. Other standardization bodies offer recommendations whose main output could be used in the copyright protection security specification. One prerequisite for the success in this business is the availability of easy to use protected content, where users are willing to pay for it (so-called premium content). Today some proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies which are not able to inter-operate are already emerging for protection purposes. E.g. depending on the deployed DRM system customers purchasing licenses from different service providers or content owners offering their content through different service providers have to deal with the functionality and usage of different DRM systems.

Within the project an open DRM architecture specifying standardized interfaces and processes for the interoperability of DRM systems will be developed. The security issues will be investigated consumer-dependent. A commonly implementable and deployable architecture will be specified as well.

Rationale

The internet as a world wide communication platform failed in one highly promising area, namely content delivery.

Music CD's and videos are mostly still delivered using the traditional hardcopy way in shops or maybe are ordered via internet and sent as hardcopy using the traditional delivery service.

However, the internet has the capability of making media content available on the click. It seems to be an anachronism that media content, which often has to be reproduced on a computer device anyway, requires manual intervention. Music, videos, TV shows, football games or other sport events - everything like this may be delivered via the internet platform. The internet enables the consumer that everything published anywhere on the world is available locally on a home device (or even on a mobile device).

This new availability paradigm requires a different business model. The act of purchasing media will not necessarily be coupled with the act of delivery. Media are ubiquitously present for the consumer, but in order to enjoy them, they must be “enabled”. Not the act of delivery, but the act of enabling media is coupled with purchasing them.

Why is this delivery scenario not already everyday practice?

Besides bandwidth problems, there is not a satisfactory environment and business model, a fact that is preventing premium content delivery over the Internet.

Under the term Digital Rights Management (DRM), there are some activities to realize the idea of "ubiquitous, but usage controlled content". However the different DRM systems are non-interoperable with each other and especially the created statistics for the content owner are different i.e. customers purchasing usage licenses from different services or content providers offering their content through different services have to deal with the functionality and usage of different DRM systems.

To explain, why suitable and interoperable DRM systems are profitable for telecom operators, let us describe the future business vision more verbosely.

There are two different areas, in which telecom operators can profit:

• Directly: Telecom operators may host some DRM servers and thus will participate directly in the DRM business.

• Indirectly: Telecom operators benefit from induced increase in network traffic.

Nowadays, the internet carries low bandwidth content. The typical internet service comprises of company presentation via internet with an additional offer to access some (specialized) databases as information service. These services are usually financed by advertising. High bandwidth content like books, newspapers, music, videos or conferences is not delivered via internet, due to the lack of an existing business platform.

Telecom operators nowadays provide only basic network services, but the network itself is not sufficient as a DRM business platform. As part of the business platform, DRM systems are urgently needed.

In the future, we will have a completely different paradigm of ownership and purchase - and we have to develop its details. While nowadays the ownership of goods is bound to a physical ownership of goods and the act of purchase is an exchange between the physical good and money, there will be a different purchase model in the future: goods (i.e. music, videos, books...) will be omnipresent. They will be available any time they are requested. There is no hurdle in getting them. But their usage is controlled by a DRM system. Not the content itself, but the usage of content will be subject of purchase. This means, that content will be freely distributed.

The omnipresence of content requires

• content providers, which are willing to push their content any time it is requested,

• network providers, which technically realize it.

Telecom operators are responsible for the second part having the advantage of available technical networks and the direct access to a large number of end-users. However, today content providers are reluctant to push their content. They wouldn't hesitate to push it, if some solid DRM system would be established that reliably controls the content usage.

Focus of the work

There is a strong demand for an open digital rights management architecture, in which components interact freely using standardized interfaces.

There are three major tasks:

• defining the architecture and the roles of the components, which interact within the architecture,

• defining interface standards between components of the architecture

• setting up a prototype based on the specified architecture

It has to be an open architecture i.e. it must not be bound to any proprietary hardware or system environment. Components of the system must be easily replaceable.

To show the feasibility of the proposed open DRM architecture a prototype using an existing content delivery service and a commercial DRM system will be set up.

What are the main objectives of this Project?

The main objectives of this proposal are to:

• To provide an open DRM architecture enabling a general environment for premium content delivery. The open DRM architecture should be based on proposed standards recommended by different international standardization groups. The open DRM architecture should allow future requirements and emerging technologies. 

• To develop and specify standardized interfaces for the interoperability of DRM systems. This will concentrate especially on the interfaces and processes for the usage and financial clearing House but also on content preparation.

• To set up a prototype showing the feasibility of the proposed open DRM architecture and providing a guideline for the integration of further commercial DRM systems with manufacturer company involvement.

• To preserve the interests of network providers and synchronize the outcomes with the standardization bodies.

• Special analysis of copyright protection security issues and consumer privacy requirements respectively.

What are the key results for this Project?

• Global overview of the state-of-the art DRM systems including security aspects.

• Overview of the current DRM standardization activities.

• Harmonization of recommendations based on previous activity.

• Identification of the user requirements and usage scenarios.

• Process Model.

• Specification of an open DRM architecture with the special focus on the requirements of telecom operators.

• Utilization of the open DRM architecture through a prototype based on an existing content delivery service and a commercial DRM system.

• Common utilization in implementation, launching and deployment of the prototype based services among telecom operators from the same branch.

• Guideline for the integration of a commercial DRM system within the open DRM architecture.

• Transfer of network provider interest into DRM standardization bodies.

• Synchronization and possible cross-functional work with EU CEC E-Content programs.

What relationship exists to other organisations or bodies?

DVB, MPEG21, TV-Anytime, IDRM