Copyright and Technology 2011Copyright and Technology 2011

November 30, 2011

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Opening Remarks

Bill RosenblattGiantSteps Media Technology Strategies

www giantstepsmts comwww.giantstepsmts.com

billr@giantstepsmts.com

Twitter: @copyrightandtec

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+1 212 956 1045

www.giantstepsmts.com

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www.copyrightandtechnology.com

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www.gothammediaventures.com

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What Are We Discussing Today?

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Interface between Copyright and T h lTechnology

Digital technology used to make and distribute copies Digital technology used to make and distribute copies at virtually no cost

C i ht i d t ll i t l t dCopyright industry responses, all interrelated:– Legal

Technological– Technological– Economic – EducationEducation

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Technologies to Affect Copyright

Content access controlContent access control– DRM– Conditional AccessConditional Access

Content identification– FilteringFiltering– License/royalty management

Rights registriesRights registries

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Legal Concepts that Affect These T h l iTechnologies

Fair UseFair Use

First Sale

Secondary infringement liability

Network service provider liabilityp y

Anticircumvention legislation

Blanket licensing of contentBlanket licensing of content

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Technologies

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Digital Rights Management

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DRM is a “troubled”* technology…

Why?

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*Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget, 2010

Factors Inhibiting DRM Success*

Market: Architecture: Market: – Economic incentives

misaligned

Architecture: – Technological innovation

hampered– Commercial content must

compete with free/illegal

Norms: Laws: Norms: – Users don’t see value in

choices of offers

Laws:– Laws not amenable to

technological implementation– Norms distorted by

architecture (technology)

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*Based on L. Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, 1999, pp. 88-90

Market:E i I ti Mi li dEconomic Incentives Misaligned

Content owners demand DRM but rarely pay for itContent owners demand DRM but rarely pay for it

Device makers and network operators use it to suit th i their own purposes

Consumers have only indirect market influence

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Norms:C D ’t Y t S V l i N M d lConsumers Don’t Yet See Value in New Models

VCR

Record Store

Radio

gacy

ul

atio

ns

Free/Limited VOD

Bookstore

VCRLeEm

u

Free/Limited OD Music

Paid Subscription VOD

Free/Limited VOD

New

,gi

tal N

ativ

e

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Paid Sub OD Music

Dig

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Million U.S. Users (estimated)

Norms:U I fl d t d I f i i B h iUsers Influenced towards Infringing Behavior

Definition of DRM commandeered by the pressDefinition of DRM commandeered by the press– Narrower than original definitions– Yet broadened to apply to any technology that restricts user Yet broadened to apply to any technology that restricts user

behavior in any way1

Notion that DRM Big Media Evil/ObsoleteNotion that DRM Big Media Evil/Obsolete

Romanticism & rationalization of hacker/pirate ethic

“L d f th Cl d”2 t th “f d ” PR3“Lords of the Cloud”2 get the “free and open” PR3

1C. Doctorow, M. Masnick, etc.2J L i Y A N t G d t

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2Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget3Robert Levine, Free Ride

Architecture:T h l i l I ti H dTechnological Innovation HamperedLack of revenue for DRM vendorsLack of revenue for DRM vendors

Venture capital scared offB d – Bad press

– Non-sexy topic

R h d ffResearchers scared off– RIAA actions against Prof. Ed Felten in 1999

DRM research “politically incorrect” in U S– DRM research politically incorrect in U.S.

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The Rights Technologies R&D Imbalance

60

70

400

450

40

50

250

300

350

20

30

150

200 2009 Gross Expen‐ditures on R&D ($Billion)

RT R&D Output

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20

50

100

RT R&D Output (Research Papers)

RT R&D Index

00

S O CDevice Producers Content Producers

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Sources: OECD, IMF

Laws Not Amenable to T h l i l I l t tiTechnological Implementation

Fair Use laws not amenable to automation Fair Use laws not amenable to automation

Privacy and due process are important but become obstacles

Anticircumvention laws reduce incentive to develop effective Anticircumvention laws reduce incentive to develop effective technologies– Liability solely on the hackery y– Effectiveness of TPM/DRM irrelevant to applicability of law

(per Universal v Reimerdes, 2000)

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Yet DRM Is Alive Today…

Downloads Real Time DeliveryDownloads Real Time Delivery

E-books Yes “Screenshot DRM”(page images)

Music Mobile device “offline listening

d ”

Usually(stream encryption)

mode”Video Yes In most release

windows ( t ti )(stream encryption)

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Will DRM Die?N t Wh It E bl N M d lNot When It Enables New Models Digital music downloads: iTunes (originally) Digital music downloads: iTunes (originally)

Premium pay-per-view TV

E l l i d fil Early release window films

Music subscription services:*Rh d MOG Rdi S tif P iRhapsody, MOG, Rdio, Spotify Premium

Subsidized-content ecosystems: boinc (music) Amazon Prime (e book a month)boinc (music), Amazon Prime (e-book-a-month)

Library e-book lending: OverDrive, BlueFire

23*Yes they do – they just don’t call it “DRM”

Content Identification

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Techniques for Identifying Content

WatermarkingWatermarking

Fingerprinting

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Watermarking

Inserting/embedding data into “noise” portions of Inserting/embedding data into noise portions of image, audio, or video signalData capacity: typically a few dozen bytesData capacity: typically a few dozen bytesTechnology appeared in mid-to-late 1990s

– First for digital imagesFirst for digital images– Audio and video later

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Fingerprinting

Examining content to determine its identity– Compute a set of numbers (“fingerprints”)– Look up in database, see if there’s a match

Based on mathematical concept of hashingBased on mathematical concept of hashing– But allows for different files that look/sound the same– Can compensate for certain transformations:Can compensate for certain transformations:

excerpting, cropping, audio distortion, etc.

History:y– 2002: Introduced for music during Napster litigation– 2006: Video fingerprinting introduced

2007 “T t fi i ti ” (Att ib t ) d t d b AP27

– 2007: “Text fingerprinting” (Attributor) adopted by AP

Content Identification B i B fitBusiness Benefits

Detecting and deterring unauthorized useDetecting and deterring unauthorized useTracking content usageDiscovery & recommendations

Increasing Internet ad revenueg

Managing assets and integrating systems

Monetizing transformational content usesMonetizing transformational content uses

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Legal Developments

…and their Technical Solutions

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Legal Developments

Network operator liabilityNetwork operator liability

“Free riding”Digital First Sale

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Network Operator Liability

Secondary liabilitySecondary liability– Contributory: aiding and abetting infringement– Vicarious: “looking the other way” and benefiting from itVicarious: looking the other way and benefiting from it– Inducement: inducing others to infringe as business model

ISP LiabilityISP Liability– Notice and takedown (DMCA 512)– Graduated/Progressive Response a/k/a “three strikes”g p

(France, South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, UK)– Center for Copyright Information, USA

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Technical Solutions

FingerprintingFingerprinting

Watermarking

Traffic analysis

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“Free Riding”

Monetizing links to copyrighted contentMonetizing links to copyrighted content

Posting links to illegal content (e.g. in cyberlockers)

Monetizing content appearing in search results

“Cloud sync” services(?)y ( )

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Technical Solutions

Fingerprinting & searchFingerprinting & search

Tagging content with “beacon” metatags – AP hNews

Tagging content with rules for indexing and search results – ACAP

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Digital First Sale

First Sale: Section 109 of U S copyright lawFirst Sale: Section 109 of U.S. copyright law

Known as “Exhaustion” in other countries

If you obtain a copyrighted work legally, you can do what you want with it

Applicability to digital downloads is unclear

Copyright Office punted on it in 2001 reportCopyright Office punted on it in 2001 report

Downloads covered under licenses, not copyright

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Technical Solutions

“Forward and delete” DRM like functionality Forward and delete DRM-like functionality

Described in 2001 Copyright Office paper

Implemented by startup ReDigi

Described in IEEE P1817 standard for “Consumer Ownable Digital Personal Property”

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Thanks to our Sponsors

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Thanks to our Media Sponsors

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And finally…

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Recommended Reading

Robert Levine, Free Ride

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Robert Levine, Free Ride