This is a mirror of the original proposal which is online at https://www.law.berkeley.edu/institutes/bclt/drm/papers/sobel-drm-btlj2003.html
Do please comment on it.

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This discussion space is for comments on the document "DRM as an Enabler of Business Models:".

important article

This is just not true. Go and read http://mediagora.com for a DRM-free business model.

The author uses DRM very loosely, to the point of meaninglessness. If any digital work is deemed to involve DRM then the term loses all utility.

Edited by author 03-06-2003 07:21 AM
This is where the whole edifice crumbles. Once the file has moved off the server onto the customer's computer, it can readily be encrypted or obfuscated and passed to someone else. There's nothing magic about a server, it's just a computer with a net connection running code.

Edited by author 03-06-2003 07:20 AM
And unfingerprinted files? What happens to them? You are ignoring the end-to-end model on which the internet is based. A model such as described here is possible, but it would require the replacement of the entire existing Internet structure with a new network with protocols designed around packet-level snooping , with default rejection of anything not understood.

Edited by author 03-06-2003 07:19 AM
This is not a real problem, as you can build a hierarchical database of copyright contributions for derivative works. However, if you are planning the kinds of huge distribution (or rather, cash collection) markups mentioned here, the model becomes less tenable.

The real problem though is forgery - people replacing the watermarks on one work with that for another.

But the customers get nothing in return. In the mediAgora plan, they get the right to sell on and receive promotion fees.

This quaint notion that computers cannont transfer files without ISPs is very odd.

This is another key mistake. The abilty to juxtapose and remix works is greatly enhanced by digital technology, and any useful plan needs to consider this.