Pramod A. Jamkhedkar

DRM as a layered system

The current landscape for digital rights management(DRM) consists of various ad hoc technologies and platforms that largely focus on copy protection. The fragmented nature of the DRM industry in 2004 is somewhat reminiscent of the telecommunications industry in the late 1980s. At that time various networking technologies were available, and what was needed was a technology that could integrate existing networks and provide various services to users. The OSI layered framework and the TCP/IP communications protocol suite provided a solution to this situation. The OSI model divides the process of digital data communications into layers. Likewise, in this paper we divide the process of DRM into layers in which various services are offered to the users of digital content at each layer. Three blocks of layers have been identified. The upper layers deal with the end-to-end functions of the application, the middle layers deal with rights expression and interpretation, and the lower layers ensure rights enforcement. This paper describes how responsibilities might be distributed among the various layers, and considers where in these layers it would be appropriate to define protocols and standards.

DRM interoperability analysis from the perspective of a layered framework

Interoperability is currently seen as one of the most significant problems facing the digital rights management (DRM) industry. In this paper we consider the problem of interoperability among DRM systems from the perspective of a layered architectural framework. The advantage of looking at the problem from this point of view is that the layered framework provides a certain amount of structure that is very helpful in guiding those working on DRM interoperability issues. Specifically, the layered framework we describe provides a useful design abstraction along architectural lines. One of the advantages of this perspective is that it allows us to consider the level within computing/communication architectures at which certain functionality should be provided, and then to address how the functionality between layers should interact in order to provide specific DRM capabilities. The communications that occur between layers, both within a single system and between two communicating systems, are the places where protocols can be defined and possibly standardized. Thus, they provide focal points for studying and addressing interoperability in DRM systems.

Digital rights management architectures

Digital rights management (DRM) is increasingly becoming a necessity for content management and distribution in highly networked environments such as the Internet. However, very few DRM models have been able to achieve commercial success and acceptance among users. This paper analyzes the problems with current DRM environments and proposes an open layered framework for development of DRM systems, where different technologies can interoperate within the framework. Furthermore, interoperability is studied in terms of the proposed layered framework, and problems posed by the current rights expression languages (RELs) are identified. We conclude that a refactoring of current RELs based on a set of design principles is necessary to achieve a reasonable level of DRM interoperability. We emphasize the need for middleware services for DRM, along with their responsibilities and places of operation within the proposed framework. Finally, a specific prototype architecture is introduced that makes use of existing infrastructures in order to implement a DRM environment consistent with the design principles described in this paper.

The problem with rights expression languages

In this paper we consider the functionality that a rights expression language (REL) should provide within a digital rights management (DRM) environment. We begin by noting the dearth of applications that make use of RELs, despite the fact that they have now been available since the late 1990s. We posit that one of the main impediments to the use of RELs is the complexity associated with understanding and using them. This results from the fact that the functionality needed to handle a wide variety of possible DRM scenarios is typically built into a REL, and it is often difficult to cleanly partition out only those pieces needed by a particular DRM application. Basing DRM system design on a layered architecture provides one way of achieving a partitioning and points to the need for a simple REL that is exclusively responsible for the expression of rights, while pushing much of the functionality found in current RELs into higher system layers. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, we provide an example implementation dealing with DRM-based negotiation.

An interoperable usage management framework

In this paper, we describe a formal framework for usage management that provides a scaffolding upon which interoperable usage management systems can be built. We apply the principles of system design to standardize certain features of the framework, such as the operational semantics, and leave free of standards areas that necessitate choice and innovation. We demonstrate that such an approach enables us to achieve a balance of flexibility and usability for the purpose of interoperability in usage management systems. We provide a formal model that allows us to define formal semantics for interoperability.

A formal conceptual model for rights

Emergence of different digital rights management (DRM) systems and various rights expression languages (RELs) has led to problems with DRM interoperability and smooth flow of content across different content management systems. The complexity, varied scope, undefined boundaries, and lack of formalism in current RELs pose some of the biggest challenges in addressing DRM interoperability. In this paper, we define a formal language neutral conceptual model for rights expression statements that provides a platform upon which rights statements from different RELs can be mapped, reasoned, and manipulated.

The drm game

In this paper we cast DRM in a setting that allows us to model a number of current approaches as games. The DRM game is partitioned into two subgames, one that considers the game associated with content acquisition, and a second that considers how a consumer uses the content, along with a vendors response to this usage. Examples are provided in order to demonstrate how these subgames correspond to real situations associated with content industries, and the conditions under which Nash equilibria will exist. These subgames form the primary stage of a repeated game that models a number of important long-term interactions between consumers and vendors. We analyze current strategies that attempt to influence the outcome of the repeated game, and we also consider a new type of architectural infrastructure that makes novel use of a trust authority in order to create a suitable environment for constructing DRM games that may prove useful in the future.

Usage Management in Cloud Computing

User concerns regarding data handling within the cloud will gain increasing importance as cloud computing becomes more pervasive. Existing service level agreement (SLA) frameworks are not designed for flexibly handling even relatively straightforward usage policies. This paper introduces the notion and importance of usage management in cloud computing. It provides an analysis of features and challenges involved in deploying a usage management framework over a distributed cloud environment to enable automated and actionable interpretation, reasoning and enforcement of usage policies. Finally, a preliminary architecture for such a framework is proposed.

Middleware Services for DRM

Lack of generic digital rights management applications has stunted the growth of the media distribution industry. In this paper we point out the need for middleware services required to develop digital rights management (DRM) applications. Many functionalities are common to most DRM applications and by nature are highly distributed. Standalone DRM applications have found it difficult to implement these services in an efficient manner and have led to closed solutions with limited capabilities. This paper categorizes these functions with reference to a layered DRM framework as middleware services. The characteristics and interface of each of these services is defined along with a prototype implementation of an agent-based negotiations service.

Managed control of composite cloud systems

Cloud providers have just begun to provide primitive functionality enabling users to configure and easily provision resources, primarily in the infrastructure as a service domain. In order to effectively manage cloud resources in an automated fashion, systems must automate quality-of-service (QoS) metric measurement as a part of a larger usage management strategy. Collected metrics can then be used within control loops to manage and provision cloud resources. This basic approach can be scaled to monitor the use of system artifacts as well as simple QoS parameters, and can also address the needs of large systems spanning the boundaries of single service providers though the problem seems to moving toward intractability.