Lex 8256: The Law in
Cyberspace Seminar
Digital Rights Management
-Nicholas Shawver
The
problem of copyright infringement is not a new one, but
the current trend in technological advancement brings a multitude of
issues not
contemplated by the original founders. As of the turn of the century,
the
internet, digital media, and technology allow for individuals to
transfer,
replicate, and modify works that they may not have license to edit and
distribute. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is
fighting
this issue on the side of the major record labels and artists. For an
overview
of the problem, please read their brief statements on the issues of online piracy
and CD piracy.
With the
relative inexpensive cost of the technology to modify digital works and
the
high volume of various p2p sites and distribution of pirated media,
Digital
Rights Management serves as a method rights holders feel can aid in
controlling
the distribution and use of their works including multimedia (both
streaming
and local), video games, and computer software. For an overview of
Digital
Rights Management, please read the ViDe's short introduction
on the
subject. Next, read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's perspective on
Digital Rights Management and Copy
Protection
Schemes.
The use of trusted computing technologies can
help increase
the effectiveness of DRM. For an overview of the
technologies
involved, please read Prof. Jonathan Weinberg's article on Hardware-based
ID, Rights Management, and Trusted Systems (52 STNLR 1251).
Do you
have any concerns over use of such technologies? Do you find them
beneficial?
Please read Dan L. Burk's article on Legal
and Technical Standards in Digital Rights Management Technology (74
FDMLR
537), written 5 years later in 2005. Are design constraints and legal
constraints interchangeable in this field? What do you feel the future
of this
technology will hold for the consumer? the
marketplace?
Lionel S. Sobel suggests a business model
for the
implementation of DRM to help rights holders, creators, distributors,
and
consumers in the market. Please read his paper: ISP's
as Digital Retailers. Should ISP's gain responsibility in this area?
Finally, read Leave
DRM Alone: A Survey of Legislative Proposals relating to Digital Rights
Management
Technology and their Problems (2005 MISTLR 317) by Declan Mccullagh and Milana
Homsi. Should we let the market bear out DRM's place in society?
The questions in this field do not have easy
answers. Do the
consumers who fight the standardization and implementation of DRM
technologies
dilute the quality of the products they enjoy? Does the industry that
fights to
require DRM in all digital products restrict the lawful use of
consumers in the
product and hurt the industry from advancing with technology? As you
consider
the above articles, keep in mind the relative cost and benefits to all
sides of
the issue (e.g. owners, consumers, artists, business, society, etc).
Can you
think of any way to balance all of these concerns?