Paper presented at SIS 2012 Conference held at NIT Silchar organised by Dr. K C Satpathy

1. 29th National Convention and Conference of
29th National Convention and Conference of
SIS
SIS
on
on
Information-Innovation-Technology ::
Information-Innovation-Technology
Creating Seamless Linkages
Creating Seamless Linkages
Organised By ::
Organised By
Central Library, NIT, Silchar
Central Library, NIT, Silchar
26th – 28th November, 2012
26th – 28th November, 2012

2. DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT :
AN ESSENTIAL FEATURE IN THE DIGITAL ERA
by
JAYANTI CHAKRAVORTY
&
LANGMUANJOHN TONSING
LIBRARY & INFORMATION ASSISTANTS
CENTRAL LIBRARY, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SILCHAR

3. Introduction
Advent of Digital Revolution since the
later part of the 20th Century, coupled
with invention of advanced ICT has
brought in an integrated knowledge
linkage and sharing mechanism
around the world.
It has opened up new opportunities to
academicians, research scholars,
students, information scientists,
industrialists, business groups, others.

4. But unfortunately, it has also brought in
the menace of Digital Piracy and
Violation of Copyright Laws.
Digital Rights Management aims to stop
this practice of piracy and help copyright
holders safeguard their digital content.
Back-Drop
Prior to arrival of digital or electronic
media, owners of copyright products and
materials had business-legal objections
to copying their D-products and D-
materials.

5. In early days of recorded sound in the
1960s, piracy was not a serious threat.
But, introduction of magnetic tapes as
a recording medium changed the
situation.
Arrival of digital media and analog /
digital conversion technologies greatly
increased the concern of copyright
owners, particularly in music and
motion picture industry, because they
are much dependent on the revenue of
their copyrighted works.

6. Since early 1980s, software were being
evolved to control Digital Piracy and in
1990s, laws started coming up.
DRM was first popularized when Digital
Millennium Copyright Act, was enacted in
USA in 1998, which implemented two
treaties of 1996 of World Intellectual
Property Organization :
WIPO Copyright Treaty, and
WIPO Performance and Phonogram Treaty.
Other WIPO Member-countries enacted
similar laws subsequently.

7. Definition
Digital Rights Management is a
combination of control devices and
technologies that are used by :
hardware manufacturers, software
engineers, publishers, writers, dramatic
and musical performers, individuals
and copyright-holders
with the intent to limit the use of digital
content and devices after
sale or publication.

8. Historical Overview
Earliest implementation of DRM was in the form
of a concept, invented in 1983 by Ryoichi Mori,a
Japanese-scientist. Named as ‘Software Service
System’-SSS, it was the 1st generation of DRM.
It attached focus on security and encryption as
a measure to curb unauthorized copying.
2nd generation DRM came as Superdistribution
Architecture - SdA, developed by Mori himself.
An improvement over SSS, it covers tracking
and monitoring of all form of rights, usages
over both tangible and intangible assets and
management of relationship with right holders.

9. Evolution of DRM Architecture
Development of DRM was in 4 specific stages :
Level Key Concept Remarks
0 No physical protection Laws and ethics
1 Hardware protection Controlling Execution :
Hardware Key
Inhibiting Duplication :
Copy Protection
Non-compatible ROM
2 Customizing Software Customizing Deciphering key
with Computer ID 1982 – GB Purdy, SPS
1984 – DJ Albert
1986 – A Herzberg, PPS
3 Execution Privileges SSS, 1983, Ryoichi Mori
ABYSS, 1987, IBM
4 Superdistribution SdA, 1987, Ryoichi Mori

10. Chronology of Development of DRM
1G DRM, SSS had the following components :
A cryptographic wrapper for digital products
that cannot be removed and remains in place
whenever the product is copied.
2G DRM, SdA had the following properties :
Software products are distributed without
restriction, the user pays for the products. The
vendor sets the terms and conditions of use.
Products can be executed by any user having
proper equipment, provided that, he adheres to
the set terms.
Proper operation of the system is ensured by
temper resistant e-devices as digitally
protected modules.

11. DRM Framework
An ideal DRM system is flexible, sufficiently
transparent and a complex system, which a
computer program generally cannot crack.
The scheme operates on three parameters :
Establishing copyright for a Digital Content
Managing its proper distribution, and
Controlling its application by the user.
For effective implementation, a DRM Program
has to define and describe three entities :
The User, the Content and the Usage Rights

12. DRM Architecture
DRM Architecture consists of two vital components :
Functional Architecture & Information Architecture
as shown in the following diagram.
DRM ARCHITECTURE
FUNCTIONAL INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE ARCHITECTURE
IP Assets Creation IP Assets IP Usage
and Capture Management
Modeling of Entities Identifying & describing Expressing statements
entities sequentially regarding rights

13. Functional Architecture covers three modules :
Intellectual Property Assets Creation and Capture
Intellectual Property Assets Management, and
Intellectual Property Usage
Information Architecture is concerned with :
Modeling, Identifying and Describing the Entities
sequentially and expressing statements of Rights.
Information Architecture Core Entity Model is depicted in the following figure :
Digital
Contents
Over Create/use
Rights Own Users

14. Application of DRM
DRM Technologies are now used in the form
of Restrictive Licensing Agreements.
Technologies like, encryption, embedding of a
tag and scrambling of expressive materials
are used to control access and reproduction
of on-line information.
DRM Technologies are used for protecting
digital contents like, film, television,
recorded music, computer games, software
packages, metadata, e-books, documents
and others.

15. Application of DRM in e-books
Mainly four e-book formats, Mobipocket, Topaz,
ePub and PDF are used to limit copying, printing
and sharing of e-books. The Amazon Kindle
uses Mobipocket and Topaz. Three main e-book
DRM schemes in common use are, one each
from Adobe, Apple and the Marlin Trust.
Widely used sofware to view e-books are Adobe
Reader and Microsoft Reader. Generally when
an e-book reader opens a file, he finds the right
statement outlining the pre-conditions for
viewing, copying and printing etc.
In Microsoft reader, there are three different levels
of access control : sealed e-books, inscribed e-
books and owner exclusive e-books.

16. Application DRM in Documents
Now-a-days, majority of the government agencies,
financial institutions and professional companies
store and process their information in digital format.
Enterprise Digital Rights Management (E-DRM)
is an improvised application of DRM Scheme
to control access to these corporate digital
documents which remain in various formats
and in e-mails and internet web pages.
E-DRM protects sensitive information by
enforcing access and usage rights to the
information throughout its lifecycle.
There are three main phases of data lifecycle
management that is considered in developing a
viable security strategy :
protection of data at rest, protection of data in transit
and protection of data in use.

17. Application DRM in Libraries
Electronic Resource Management (ERM)
poises to be an advancement indicator for
modern Library functioning.
ERM is the software used by Libraries to keep
track of important information about e-
resources, especially the internet-based
ones, like e-journals, e- books and others.
The development of ERM became necessary in
the early 2000s, as it was evident that
traditional Library Catalogues and Library
systems were not designed to handle
metadata and many other online products.
Libraries receiving e-resources from publishers,
vendors and copyright owners must understand,
record and inform their users about the financial,
legal, and access aspects of the resources.

18. Features of ERM
The main features of ERM systems include :
Supporting acquisition and management of
licensed e-resources.
Providing descriptions of resources at the
package (database) level and relate package
contents (say an e-journal) to the
package record.
Encoding and perhaps publicly displaying
licensed rights such as e-reserves, course-
packs, and inter-library loan.
Tracking e-resources from point of order
through licensing and final access.

19. DRM : The Task Ahead for the Library People
Libraries are the Repositories of Information
and Knowledge. Over the centuries, libraries
have been helping hundreds of millions of
people meet their work, study, research and
other needs. They preserve our history and
cultural heritage and promote our right to
access information.
In the present context, to achieve these goals,
libraries need international copyright norms,
together with limitations and exceptions.
Legal flexibilities in copyright, known as
limitations and exceptions, provide balance
in a copyright system between users and
creators of protected works.

20. IFLA holds the view that :
Copyright limitations and exceptions are fundamental for access
of knowledge and thus for human and social development.
IFLA and other Library organizations are working actively
with WIPO Member Nations to foster support for
enacting a binding international legal instrument on
copyright limitations and exceptions enabling libraries to
preserve their collections and support their users with
the needed documents.
It is time for the Library people, knowledge
professionals, information scientists, scholars
and students to get involved in mobilizing their
respective National Governments and the world
communities to shape an international law on
copyright, that could satisfy the needs of the 21 st
century libraries and could build up a seamless
linkage across the world, dedicated to achieve
common human welfare and prosperity through
academic, scientific and social development.

21. WITH BEST REGARDS