Digital Rights Management

(DRM)

Matthew Forest

Piracy

Copy Protection

Lock-out Systems 10NES, Hardware Trademark Security

System (TMSS), Software EA

License Model

Media

Music

Consoles

Cevat Yerli of Crytek: “Similar games on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more. ”

PC

What do consumers want?

Quotes “[...] because if consumers are unable to obtain a

legitimate copy without experiencing additional costs and/or delays, then piracy becomes a far more attractive option.”

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy 1.html

“The ideal DRM system is flexible, entirely transparent to the user, and [...] complex [...] to crack.”

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm.htm

So now what? Consumers don’t like DRM Pirates will always pirate Need to find some middle ground

Minimize inconvenience Provide additional convenience Tailor solutions to specific products

Suggestions For small, portable files like music or small

videos, opt for no DRM For moderate files such as movies, encryption

works (so long as 3rd parties can make players) For larger/domain specific media, such as games,

minimize inconvenience of paying customers, and provide extra services to negate unavoidable inconvenience

For Business use hardware and server based access

Conclusions Piracy won’t go away DRM is necessary, but must be handled

carefully A well tailored DRM system can weather

initial outcry and provide services for consumer and producer alike

Questions?Select References: 1up 2008. 1up.com: Gabe newell says drm strategies ’are just dumb’. http://www.1up.com/news/gabe-

newelldrm-strategies-dumb. CLARKE, R. 2001. Drm will beget dcrm. In Workshop on Digital Rights Management for the

Web.WorldWide Web Consortium, Sophia-Antipolis, France. http://www.w3.org/2000/12/drm-ws/pp/xamax-clarke.html.

Everiss 2008. Bruce on Games: Game piracy. http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/04/23/game-piracy/. HowStuffWorks 2011. HowStuffWorks.com: How digital rights management works.

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm.htm. MANASSE, M. S. 2001. Why rights management is wrong (and what to do instead). In Workshop on

Digital Rights Management for the Web. World Wide Web Consortium, Sophia-Antipolis, France. http://www.w3.org/2000/12/drm-ws/pp/compaq.html.

Opensource 2011. Opensource.com: The drm graveyard: A brief history of digital rights management in music. http://opensource.com/life/11/11/drm-graveyard-brief-history-digital-rights-management-music.

TweakGuides 2010. TweakGuides: Pc game piracy examined. http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy 1.html.