Don't shoot the messenger, just read the message. It has some interesting undertones, IMO.
Who Has the Key to DRM?
Concerns about copyright protection have been heightened as the Hollywood studios insist on improved digital rights capabilities as we move beyond DVD to the next level of resolution.
"The studios are concerned because the technology is close enough now to the mastered D5 copy which lets you do other things to it," Greengart said.
Microsoft is pitching standards like High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) to make sure that the technologies don't complicate things and users can move data between devices. This is meant to help them understand the breadth of their rights and keep it simple.
The group is considering other rights languages besides HDMI. They include High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, Extensible Rights Markup Language (XRML) and Digital Property Rights Language (DPRL). But the furthest ahead and the one with the best chance at winning is MPEG-21.
"The people behind XMCL thought that it would be merged into something else but never really went anywhere," DHWG member and Content Guard CEO Michael Miron recently told internetnews.com. "There is also Open Digital Rights Language -- or ODRL -- from Australia. Head to head, it's the only competition with MPEG that had a choice, but they lost head to head."
MPEG-21 is based on two essential concepts: the definition of a fundamental unit of distribution and transaction (the Digital Item) and the concept of Users interacting with Digital Items. The Digital Items can be considered the "what" of the Multimedia Framework (e.g., a video collection, a music album) and the Users can be considered the "who" of the Multimedia Framework.
Miron said the mathematical breakdown of DRM/CP leaves itself wide open for ambiguities.
"The last thing you want is ambiguities," Miron said. "If I say you have the right to play this song once, you know what I mean. But when you give that instruction to a machine, does it mean it gets to play it only one time, or does it mean one time on only this machine, or does it mean one time on several machines?"
The group behind MPEG-21 said it makes things clearer by defining the syntax and semantics of their characteristics, such as interfaces to the elements, "in an efficient, transparent and interoperable way."
The technology is showing such advanced promise that at its Annual Meeting in Montreal last month, the MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) unanimously approved expanding its scope to include the promotion of the MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 standards. The group has also changed its name to the "MPEG Industry Forum."
DHWG says any format it chooses must be an open standard that has been formally ratified by an internationally recognized standards organization, and IP must be licensed under reasonable, non-discriminatory terms.
Given that criterion, Miron says MPEG-21 may have the best chance.
Who Has the Key to DRM?
Concerns about copyright protection have been heightened as the Hollywood studios insist on improved digital rights capabilities as we move beyond DVD to the next level of resolution.
"The studios are concerned because the technology is close enough now to the mastered D5 copy which lets you do other things to it," Greengart said.
Microsoft is pitching standards like High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) to make sure that the technologies don't complicate things and users can move data between devices. This is meant to help them understand the breadth of their rights and keep it simple.
The group is considering other rights languages besides HDMI. They include High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, Extensible Rights Markup Language (XRML) and Digital Property Rights Language (DPRL). But the furthest ahead and the one with the best chance at winning is MPEG-21.
"The people behind XMCL thought that it would be merged into something else but never really went anywhere," DHWG member and Content Guard CEO Michael Miron recently told internetnews.com. "There is also Open Digital Rights Language -- or ODRL -- from Australia. Head to head, it's the only competition with MPEG that had a choice, but they lost head to head."
MPEG-21 is based on two essential concepts: the definition of a fundamental unit of distribution and transaction (the Digital Item) and the concept of Users interacting with Digital Items. The Digital Items can be considered the "what" of the Multimedia Framework (e.g., a video collection, a music album) and the Users can be considered the "who" of the Multimedia Framework.
Miron said the mathematical breakdown of DRM/CP leaves itself wide open for ambiguities.
"The last thing you want is ambiguities," Miron said. "If I say you have the right to play this song once, you know what I mean. But when you give that instruction to a machine, does it mean it gets to play it only one time, or does it mean one time on only this machine, or does it mean one time on several machines?"
The group behind MPEG-21 said it makes things clearer by defining the syntax and semantics of their characteristics, such as interfaces to the elements, "in an efficient, transparent and interoperable way."
The technology is showing such advanced promise that at its Annual Meeting in Montreal last month, the MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) unanimously approved expanding its scope to include the promotion of the MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 standards. The group has also changed its name to the "MPEG Industry Forum."
DHWG says any format it chooses must be an open standard that has been formally ratified by an internationally recognized standards organization, and IP must be licensed under reasonable, non-discriminatory terms.
Given that criterion, Miron says MPEG-21 may have the best chance.