CoreMedia Interview: Multimedia and DRM - Part 2

By Alun Williams

Posted on 23 Nov 2005 at 10:29

What is your response to people who take a strong stance against DRM in all its forms - that it represents the dark forces of control that work against information being free?

DRM systems like CoreMedia DRM are the basis for secure and interoperable distribution of digital goods.

Consumers demand seamless access to various types of content using multiple devices for an affordable price. And they are seeking to share various types of content between their own rich media devices and networked systems as well as with friends and family. In addition they expect secure content, which means no viruses.

In the end, I think, it is up to the artists, or whoever are the content owners, to provide it in the way they want it to be perceived. If it is entertainment and was created with a lot of investment one should be able to decide if people who do not want to pay for it should be excluded.

The DRM market is currently booming, I believe - what are the forces driving this, and will they continue?

Consumers demand for 'light media content' like ringtones, games, logos and wallpapers have exploded in the past years, according to the European Information Technology Observatory, reaching €214 million in Germany alone and more than €2bn in Europe in 2004. The trend with ringtones and the like is set to continue with news, entertainment and sports related information services.

Consumer demand for mobile content is set to exceed €7.6bn in 2006. With the total number of mobile users approaching two billion worldwide even the most conservative estimates support these numbers.
With such explosive growth forecasted the need for DRM will become increasingly evident. Content owners are wary of consumers being able to copy and pass-on files, resulting in lost revenues. Thus, they are going to force content and service providers to employ copy protection systems.

Finally, what is your response to the Sony XCP fiasco - how damaging will this be to the industry, and to Sony in particular?

This is unfortunately a disaster. Especially since "xcp" is not a DRM technology, but copy protection. It only prevents consumers from sharing rather than enabling it in a legal way. Sony BMG will most likely be faced with several law suits, which might get it into deep trouble, even endangering its future.

Media companies should learn two things in regards of DRM from this. First, they need to get more involved in technologies that become a critical part of their daily business. Second, selecting the right vendors and building trusted relationships is highly important for media companies.

CoreMedia interview: Multimedia and DRM - Part 1