Separating Encryption and Key Issuance in Digital Rights Management Systems

Over the last few years, Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems have become increasingly successful in various areas of digital content production and distribution. While DRM-related technology research has achieved a certain degree of maturity since the 1990�s, the legal framework surrounding DRM systems remains in flux and is fiercely debated. This keynote speech first provides an overview of the various ways by which digital content is protected in a DRM system. The intertwining protection by technology, contracts, technology licenses and anti-circumvention regulations may lead to a new property right making copyright protection obsolete. However, there is a danger of over-protection: questions of fair use and other limitations to traditional copyright law have to be addressed. If competition is not able to solve this tension between the interests of content providers and the interests of users or the society at large -- which seems doubtful at least -- it is the law that has to provide a solution. The speech presents the different approaches legislatures in Europe and in the United States have adopted. Second, the speech discusses recent developments at the intersection of DRM and the law, in particular the discussions about DRM interoperability, patents on DRM technology, DRM standards, and the relationship between DRM and levy systems as well as between DRM and trusted computing. Third, the speech analyzes recent scholarship that attempts to solve legal and policy questions surrounding DRM on a technological level. The speech questions whether the tension between technological protection and public values such as fair use, privacy, competition and an innovation commons is really irreconcilable. It argues for a more nuanced approach that explores possibilities and limitations of a value-centered technology design of DRM systems. Only if technology research focuses on such questions, the disapproval of DRM systems by many legal scholars and policy activists could possibly diminish in the long term.

An improved E-DRM scheme for mobile environments

Rights expression languages (RELs) form a central component of digital rights management (DRM) systems. The process of development of RELs transforms the rights requirements to a formal language ready to be used in DRM systems. Decisions regarding the design of the conceptual model, syntax, semantics, and other such properties of the language, affect not only each other, but also the integration of the language in DRM systems, and the design of DRM system as a whole. This chapter provides a detailed analysis of each step of this process and the tradeoffs involved that not only affect the properties of the REL, but also the DRM system using that REL.

This paper presents mechanisms to manage and protect notification of events in Digital Rights Management systems. Event notification is an important part within DRM systems that enable the controlled use of multimedia content through the complete digital valued chain, from creation to consumption of digital assets. These modules are responsible for reporting events related to multimedia content and/or peers that interact with them. Then, producers and distributors of multimedia content can be informed of the usage of the multimedia content that they have produced or distributed. In some cases, it is also important to protect the reported data in order to ensure its integrity and authenticity. I. INTRODUCTION Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems enable the creation, distribution and consumption of multimedia content. These systems are made up of different elements that enable the controlled use of multimedia content through the complete digital value chain. Typical components of DRM systems are digital object creators, license creators and interpreters, protection servers, etc. Moreover, something that could help when using multimedia content in a controlled way is the notification of events being done by users of multimedia systems. In this way, distributors of multimedia content can be informed of the usage of the multimedia objects they have provided through a web site, a downloading service or whatever distribution mechanism used. Afterwards, users illegally distributing content could be prosecuted by means of these activity records. By means of the chain of licenses or digital objects defining the contractual relationships between the actors of the value chain, they could be informed of the use of the content that they have created, adapted, distributed, etc. The notification of events could be useful, for example example to monitor the usage of copyrighted material or to know the exact connectivity conditions between two Peers when trying to deliver multimedia content. In the first case, a distributor could specify that, whenever the content that he distributes is rendered, he would receive a notification enabling him to manage his royalties. Then, the Peer would generate a notification, upon the content is rendered, which would be delivered to the distributor. This event notification would contain information about the digital content and the conditions under which it has been rendered. MPEG-21 Event Reporting (1) provides a standardised way for sharing information about events amongst peers and users. Such events are related to multimedia content and/or peers that interact with them. In the MPEG-21 context, the reporting messages that include information about different aspects of media usage are called Event Reports. MPEG-21 Event Reporting had some limitations when trying to manage events in trusted systems. Then, we proposed a way to improve this standard expanding its capabilities. A core experiment was carried out in order to verify the solution we had proposed for the report of events in trusted systems. This paper presents the solution that we proposed and how it was integrated in the MPEG-21 Event Reporting standard. On the other hand, in some of the above situations, especially in non-trusted systems, event notifications should be protected. We should guarantee access and modification only to the users that have permission. MPEG-21 Event Reporting standard initiative does not take into account the security of the events being notified. This specification does not provide a way to ensure integrity and authenticity or protection to the reported data neither to the request data. Usually, it is important to protect the sensible data reported, as the user data and the operations that he/she has performed will be later used to produce usage statistics, billing information, etc. This paper also presents a possible solution to this issue.

Geospatial digital rights management

This paper presents a digital rights management (DRM) system for digital broadcasting based on home servers (DBHS) using receivers with large-capacity storage devices. DBHS will enable viewers to enjoy 'television anytime/anywhere' by utilizing these storage functions. Our proposed DRM system is suitable for broadcasting, and allows both rights protection and advanced access to content held on home storage devices (in terms of validity, usage and charge conditions, and so on). We developed a prototype DRM system using a Pentium3 personal computer (1 GHz) in order to evaluate the nonlinear playback and 'trick-play' modes of encrypted content on the hard disk drive (HDD). Using this prototype, we confirmed that the nonlinear playback of content encrypted using the proposed DRM system could be processed in real time. The functionality in terms of trick-play modes was equal to that of commercially available hard disk recorders. In addition, we developed a security module for the DRM system in the form of a smart card with a built-in processor. We confirmed that the proposed DRM system utilizing the new smart card could be applied to DBHS.

The desires for robust digital rights management (DRM) systems are not new to the commercial world. Indeed, industrial research, development and deployment of systems with DRM aspects (most notably crude copy-control schemes) have a long history. Yet to date the industry has not seen much commercial success from shipping these systems on top of platforms that support general-purpose computing. There are many factors contributing to this lack of acceptance of current DRM systems, but I see three specific areas of work that are key adoption blockers today and ripe for further academic and commercial research. The lack of a general-purpose rights expression/authorization language, robust trust management engines and attestable trusted computing bases (TCBs) all hamper industrial development and deployment of DRM systems for digital content. In this paper I briefly describe each of these challenges, provide examples of how the industry is approaching each problem, and discuss how the solutions to each one of them are dependent on the others.

This research investigates integrating blockchain technology into Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems to manage English language resources in libraries. Traditional DRM systems struggle with security, accessibility, and preservation. Blockchain's decentralized, immutable ledger offers a potential solution. The study evaluates blockchain's ability to enhance DRM, improving security, accessibility, and long-term preservation of resources. Using a literature review, case studies, and qualitative data from library professionals and IT experts, the research examines blockchain-based DRM systems' technical architecture and benefits. Findings show blockchain enhances DRM efficiency and security but also highlights challenges. The study provides practical recommendations and a roadmap for libraries considering blockchain-based DRM, suggesting future research directions.

We present a solution to the problem of content sharing in digital rights management (DRM) systems. Users in DRM systems purchase content from content providers and then wish to distribute it between their own devices or to other users. The goal is to allow the sharing of such content, with the control of the content provider, while ensuring that it complies with the content’s usage rules. While most of the previous studies on content sharing in DRM systems assume the existence of authorized domains, ours does not make that assumption. The solutions that we present here are based on Certified Sharing Requests which are used when devices request from the content provider authorization to share content with other devices. Our solutions enhance the usability of DRM, from both the users’ and content provider’s perspective, by supporting on-the-fly sharing, sharing and re-sharing of controlled content, and a pay-per-share business model.Keywordsdigital rights managementcontent sharingauthorized domainproxy re-encryption

This chapter gives a concise introduction to digital rights management (DRM) systems by first presenting the basic ingredients of the architecture of DRM systems for (audio and/or video) content delivery, followed by an introduction to two open-standard DRM systems, one developed in the mobile world (Open Mobile Alliance DRM) and another one in the world of consumer electronics (Marlin).

The use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems involves several stakeholders, such as the content provider, the license provider, and the user, each having their own incentives to use the system. Proper use of the system implies that these incentives can only be met if certain security requirements are fulfilled. Much attention in literature has been devoted to specific security aspects of DRM systems. The contributions of this chapter consist of deriving a systematic overview of core security requirements for DRM systems. This chapter conducts a stakeholder analysis, gives an objective tree for each relevant stakeholder, and develops a simple, generic conceptual model to arrive at the set of core security requirements.

Owing to the proliferation of digitized media applications, such as e-Book, streaming videos, web images, shared music, etc., there is a growing need to protect the intellectual property rights of digital media and prevent illegal copying and falsification. This explains the strong demand for digital rights management (DRM), which is an access control technology that protects and enforces the rights associated with the use of digital content, such as multimedia data. The most important functions of DRM are to prevent unauthorized access and the creation of unauthorized copies of digital content, and moreover to provide a mechanism by which copies can be detected and traced (content tracking). Digital rights management is the most critical component of the intellectual property management and protection (IPMP) protocol widely promoted in the MPEG standards. Under the IPMP's scope, intellectual property (IP) is anything whose use owes the inventors or the owners some form of compensation. This could be a particular media application or it could be the technology used by the media. The management of IP involves storage and serving, appropriate authorization of use, and correct billing and tracking. The protection of IP prevents unauthorized use or misuse of the IP and can make legitimate use easy. According to [1], an effective DRM system should have the following four requirements. (1) The DRM system must package the content to be protected in a secure manner. (2) The DRM system must obtain the access conditions (license) specified by the owner of the protected content. (3) The DRM system must determine whether the access conditions have been fulfilled […]

Digital rights management (DRM) systems interoperability is needed in order to be able to support different business models on different distribution channels. There are several steps to be taken for providing interoperability. We have decided to take as a first step the translation of rights expressions from language to language. This translation will allow cross content consumption between different DRM systems and devices, permitting to users to buy a content governed with rights expressions written in one language and supported by a DRM system and consume it in a different DRM system supporting a different language

The simplicity of material reproduction and distribution has made protecting intellectual property rights more and more difficult in the digital age. By means of access and use control, Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems have become increasingly important in protecting copyrighted material. Studies indicate that DRM especially in the music and publishing sectors discourages illegal use and supports monetisation strategies for digital media. DRM, on the other hand, sometimes creates compromises that can lower user happiness and even promote piracy as a kind of resistance by restricting consumer rights and interoperability problems. New studies underlined the need of a balanced DRM strategy combining legal, technical, and economic elements while honouring fair use and user autonomy. Advances in blockchain and smart contracts are also being investigated as decentralised substitutes for conventional DRM systems, promising possible enhancements in rights enforcement and openness. The ease with which material may be reproduced and disseminated in the digital age has made intellectual property rights protection more difficult. Systems for digital rights management, or DRM, have become essential for protecting intellectual material by limiting access and use. DRM successfully discourages unauthorised usage and promotes digital media monetisation models, according to research, especially in the publishing and music sectors. DRM frequently brings trade-offs, though, such restricted consumer rights and interoperability problems, which can lower user pleasure and occasionally incite piracy as a form of resistance. A balanced DRM strategy that incorporates legal, technological, and economic tactics while upholding fair usage and user liberty is crucial, according to recent study. As decentralised alternatives to conventional DRM systems, developments in blockchain technology and smart contracts are also being investigated since they may enhance rights enforcement and transparency.

The digital content distribution businesses satisfy people's requirements for the rich and colorful digital content and also promote the user experience. These businesses also make an increasing profit for content makers, content providers and network carrier, and will be a critical position in the future business value chain. However, copyright piracy still doesn't solve very well and results in great loss for content providers. The digital content has the characteristics of easy copy and distribution, therefore, digital rights management has been the key technology to protect intellectual property of digital contents, control their dissemination and usage in digital content Web issue. First, synthetically analyze the disadvantages of typical digital rights management framework. Second, given a series of the problems in the modern system, digital rights management system based on smart card is proposed. Making use of the characteristic of smart card itself, the new framework will be mobile, secure and off-line. Following this, a set of digital management protocols are designed, including license acquisition protocol, usage, update protocol and authentication. The new system's framework, module structure, system design and realization are described. At last, the new system's characteristic is analyzed and is proved to be secure and efficiency.