Transcript INDICARE Presentation

Analysis of Consumer Issues and Paths for
Concrete Approaches
Dr. Carsten Orwat
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in the Helmholtz Association,
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis,
INDICARE Project Co-ordinator
EU DRM Workshop, Brussels, 6 April 2005
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INDICARE Project
• The Informed Dialogue about Consumer Acceptability of
Digital Rights Management Solutions in Europe
• Open dialogue of stakeholders
• Stimulated by insights from science and practice
http://www.indicare.org
Funded by European Commission
under the eContent Programme
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Background
Common Sense:
• Consumer acceptability is key for business success
• Consumer confidence and trust in services is pivotal
• Several deficits in consumer acceptability can be observed
Underlying sources for this presentation:
• INDICARE State-of-the-Art Report and comments by
experts
• Articles of online-journal "INDICARE Monitor"
• INDICARE workshops
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Consumer Issues - Overview
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Access and usages
Transparency
Interoperability
Privacy
Not considered in this presentation, but also important:
• Flexibility in business models
• Security and hardware issues
• Issues of consumers with special status:
• Consumers with disabilities
• Libraries, scientists, and educational institutions
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Access and Usages - Problems
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No statutory consumer rights
Risks that contract terms override consumer rights
Uncertainty about legality of uses
Uncertainty about future usability of purchased content
Concerns that DRMS may hinder use of content of public
domain
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Access and Usages - Solutions under discussion
• Definition of enforceable consumer rights that can not be
overridden by contract terms or technical measures
• E.g. definition of "numbers" of legal private copies, of
"friends" for sharing etc. (at best harmonised in EU)
• Better consumer experience by commercial use of P2P
networks ("superdistribution")
• Sharing of legally acquired files closer to consumer
expectations
• Utilisation of recommendation mechanisms
• Consumers become resellers
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Transparency - Problems
• Low consumer awareness of DRM applications
• Consumer representatives demand for more information
on how DRMS are employed
• Transparency problems in end-user license agreements
(readable only after purchase)
• Problem of information complexity and overload at the
visible layer
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Transparency - Solutions under discussion
• Clear, condensed, standardised contract information
before purchase needed
• Labelling of “Fair Terms”, such as:
• Respecting fair contract terms
• Respecting advanced data protection and privacy
standards
• Respecting “true” interoperability
• Granting long-term usability of purchased content
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Interoperability - Problems
• Use of files on different platforms and devices expected
• Lock-in strategies by vendors
• Misleading "interoperability" label (only selected devices)
• Danger that seemingly "open" standards can be captured
by single parties; risk of licensing control points
• Concepts of "authorised domain", "personal area
networks", "digital home", etc.: (external) technical
definition who belongs to social entities
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Interoperability - Solutions under discussion
• Fully open standards with no proprietary extensions
demanded
• Concepts of "authorised domain" et al. need closer
consideration, especially regarding privacy and consumer
sovereignty issues
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Privacy - Problems
• Potential of DRMS to monitor product usages, intellectual
behaviour, and tastes/habits of consumers
• Especially by unique identifiers and tracking options
• Often unknown to consumers and without any implied
consent
• Especially online: reporting back, persistent usage
control, remote revocation
• Many DRM types with different implications (also DRM
without privacy issues such as DVDs)
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Privacy - Solutions under discussion
• Precise definition of legal information collection and
management regarding DRM-based services
• Constant observation by data protection authorities and
privacy advocates (before market entry)
• Granting anonymous access (e.g. by Trusted Third
Parties)
• Privacy rights management (PRM), definition of ownership
of personal data and access rights
• Self-commitment/self-regulation by vendors
• Pre-purchase information for consumers about company
activities
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Thank you for your attention!
Get involved and discuss at:
http://www.indicare.org
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Business Models
• More choice for consumers in ways to purchase
• Product differentiation and price discrimination need
considerations by competition/anti-trust authorities
• For instance, regional price discrimination
• Options for reselling DRM-based products demanded
• Danger of closed distribution concepts (control of
complementary products)
• High costs of licensing DRM technology adverse for SMEs
and individual creators (competitive disadvantage)
• Implications for competition, price level, products and
cultural diversity, as well as choice for consumers
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Security and Hardware Issues
• Potential conflicts between DRM software and other
software (e.g. protection software)
• New vulnerabilities: DRM relative open for external
attacks, less control of security by consumers
• Unresolved concerns of "trusted computing"
• Exclusion of platforms (e.g. Linux)