Audio CDs, movie DVDs and Internet downloads are taking security into a new dimension. Simon Mehlman at Macrovision reports on the implications for the ownership of digital data once it is in the hands of the consumer. The transmission and fair use of information has always been fraught with security issues. From carrier pigeons to the ‘Pony Express’, the agencies used to carry and deliver information have done so based on two key principles: the rights of confidentiality and the clear expectation of assured delivery. These factors have historically proven to be fundamental to the safe transmission of information. The overriding security issue up to this point in time has been the protection of information en route to the intended recipient. Technology has now leaped ahead into a ‘digital age’. Whatever the type of content and the form of distribution – from audio CDs to movie DVDs and Internet downloads – a whole new dimension to the issue of security has arisen: the issue of content security and, specifically, the rights and ownership of digital data after it has moved into the domain of the consumer. This is the foundation for digital rights management (DRM). Digital content is a broad term used to describe the wealth of information and products now available for consumption. From business and entertainment software, to video and Internet feeds, our society has never been so rich in information. The marketplace offers huge rewards to software pirates, from the casual copier to the dedicated hacker, particularly when the cost of a CD burner has fallen to less than C100. It is no secret that piracy is rife within our society. Many people recognise that piracy of digital content is a criminal offence; however, this does not act as a sufficiently powerful deterrent against people copying music CDs or sharing movies over Internet ‘peer to peer’ networks like Kazaa.

A whole industry has developed around circumventing copy protection, which ranges from selling hardware devices and downloads that remove copy protection to cheap imported DVD players that do not contain required patent licences and thus have a price advantage over legitimate players. It is beyond comprehension that we have laws that allow our own electronics industry to be damaged. Such activities hurt a whole range of interests, including those of the rights holders, the providers of copy protection technology, broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers, government tax agencies and consumers. Content creators can spend a lot of money in research and production. When this content is ‘pirated’ or subjected to ‘illegal home copying’, the revenue stream back to the content creators and their publishers can be seriously affected. Digital content can be subject to hacker attacks for a variety of motives, from simply trying to avoid paying for a product, to reverse-engineer coding for competitive product development. The rights and revenues of content owners are being abused, and legislators face the dilemma of how to fairly protect the interested parties. The goal for content owners for some time has been to develop a range of systems that enforce the rights of copyright owners, whilst at the same time ensuring that the legitimate user is not penalised and does not have their ease of use compromised. It is in nobody’s interest to devise a method of copy protection or digital rights management that is effective at the cost of enabling the consumer to enjoy the full benefit and ease of use of the product. DRM is a term applied to technologies designed to manage rights holders’ product. It provides a technology platform to allow trusted packaging, flexible distribution and managed consumption of digital content over Internet protocol (IP) networks. The purpose of DRM is to provide content owners, service providers, distributors and retailers with a safe and secure method for meeting the consumer’s need for interactive, on-demand access to movies, online games, articles, music and software critical or proprietary data – virtually any type of digital media. A key aspect of DRM is effective copy management and the presence of a legal structure that protects not only the rights owners but also the rights of technologists and consumer electronic manufacturers. One of the most dubious phrases used in the current legislative process is that of ‘copying for non-commercial benefit’. If someone makes a copy of a DVD or TV programme and puts it on the Internet, it may well have been done for non-commercial benefit. However, it is unlikely that the rights owner, who may lose tens of thousand of sales of the product as a result, will feel that they have not suffered a significant commercial loss. The requirements of rights owners for content protection are varied.

A system to protect their content, be it business software or the latest chart-topping music album, must include or provide the following factors:  a highly secure end-to-end solution;  seamless interface with existing e-commerce infrastructures;  scalable architecture to cost-effectively support growing demand;  no change to existing content authoring workflows;  media agnostic – usable with any type of compression or file format;  support for different means of distribution;  support for flexible business models;  able to be ported to other devices: STBs, PVR, HMS;  high-quality user experience. One key sector, the video industry, has followed a cohesive policy of copy protection involving content owners and consumer electronics manufacturers. By undertaking a range of copy protection initiatives, the amount of revenue lost to illegal copying has been significantly reduced. As technology has progressed, and we now enjoy our digital content on an increasing number of platforms, the video industry, together with other digital content sectors, has begun to review new options to protect their assets and maintain the consumers’ enjoyment of their products. With the advent of mass consumer broadband access to the Internet, the requirement for an evolved form of copy protection has become paramount if owners of premium content are going to use this medium – DRM has been proposed and developed as a suitable solution. Some opponents cite DRM technologies as threatening the rights or privacy of the individual consumer. It should be noted that without a highly secure, flexible and easy-touse system to protect, distribute and receive high-value content via the Internet, content owners such as major movie studios are unlikely to authorise the transmission of their premium content, thereby severely limiting premium content availability, retarding growth in this market and limiting the associated revenue opportunities. The problem lies in the sheer complexity and variety of digital content products and their routes to consumers. Any solution must be scalable and flexible and enable secure distribution from end to end. It is also practical to expect that no single application can be applied for all users; what is required is a strategic complement of tools – a system – to protect digital content delivery. For the software industry, where secure Internet deployment, registration and payment offer significant revenues today, a DRM solution has to be flexible and robust.

The DRM requirements for software do not vary greatly from those described above for rich media over IP, but there are clear commercial advantages that can be achieved today:  secure delivery of software by electronic download, on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, or as value-added content on a video DVD;  acceptance of payments and unlocking of products via the Internet and/or by phone, fax or e-mail; offering products on a time-limited trial basis (with or without ‘click here to buy’), or on a subscription or rental basis;  requiring users to activate or register their software;  DRM protected software can only be used as intended. A software company can therefore create an incremental revenue stream or transform their distribution and sales policies into a whole new way of doing business. SafeCast from Macrovision is an exceptionally flexible and highly secure DRM system; it supports the DRM ‘wish list’ quoted above and allows publishers to deliver software products via any digital medium and still retain complete control over how and when they can be ‘unlocked’ and used. It is arguable that the market with the current greatest need of effective DRM is the audio marketplace, wherein over 20 years of producing audio CDs has led to the most significant widespread abuse of content owners’ rights. Consumers may have the right in some countries to make a back-up copy of their CDs, but wholesale copying of top music labels’ music has caused massive losses within the industry. One main issue for the consumer lies in the dual nature of audio CD-ROM playback. When a copy-protected CD will work in a music system’s CD tray, but will not work when placed in a PC, consumers may feel that their use is being compromised by copy protection and that they are being penalised. In November 2002, Midbar, an Israeli company with a commercially successful audio CD copy-protection product called Cactus Shield, was purchased by Macrovision to help produce a DRM solution by combining it with Macrovision’s SafeAuthenticate product.

A‘best of breed’ solution is planned that would satisfy the rights concerns of the music industry and, at the same time, enable users to play their CDs in their PC, make compilation CDs, rip music to MP3 and enhance their listening range of options. DRM is not about limiting access or simple copy protection. It has the means to be an enabling technology, transparent to legitimate consumers, which can also offer a wider choice of digital content and consumption within a secure framework. One must also not forget that laws introduced in the ‘analogue age’ are highly unlikely to be effective in the more technologically advanced ‘digital age’. To that end, and to be truly effective, legislation needs to take into account the fast changing nature of the digital world and protect not only the content but also the copy management technologies themselves against circumvention devices and means. It is to be hoped that the Government will clearly address this issue in the new Copyright Bill. Macrovision Corporation (Nasdaq: MVSN) develops and markets electronic licence management digital rights management (DRM) and copy protection technologies for the enterprise software, consumer software, home video and music markets.

Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with international headquarters in London and Tokyo. Macrovision has copy protected over 3.5 billion VHS video cassettes and, in the last four years, one billion DVDs. Its copy protection technology is embedded in over 50 million digital set-top boxes including over 98 per cent of those used in the UK. These statistics and the company’s extensive user base, which includes the Hollywood studios, the UK satellite and cable television industry, and the major PC games publishers, make Macrovision the world’s leading copy protection provider for video, PC games and PPV television. Macrovision is now repositioning itself more as a rights management solution company and has developed and acquired patented technologies that provide DRM solutions for rich media (video/audio) delivered via IP (Internet), software and audio CD/DVDs. Macrovision has developed a complete end-to-end DRM solution to support the distribution of rich media over a variety of distribution channels, including internet protocols (IP). This solution is called MacroSAFE. It is a multi-layered solution that enables video and audio content owners, software vendors and service providers to securely distribute their content to consumers and businesses – to enable them to maximise their revenue opportunities through new and cost-effective distribution channels. MacroSAFE is an enabling technology; users can get access to quality media and publishers have access to a wide range of business models – purchase, rental, subscription, time-restricted playback, number-restricted playback, pay-perview, video-on-demand, and trial, free, and super distribution. For further information contact: Macrovision UK Ltd, Charlwood House, The Runway, South Ruislip, HA4 6SE. Tel: +44 (0)20 88390400; Fax: +44 (0)20 8839 0409; Website: www.macrovision.com