Digital rights management on open and semi-open networks

Gives an overview of how the openness of the future Internet affects digital rights management (DRM). There will be open and semi-open parts in the future Internet. DRM systems enable many important features of information product distribution on the Internet. At the same time, these systems have significant costs: how should content distributors maintain user friendliness and solve revenue-earning difficulties? While DRM systems enable efficient charging possibilities, it is a challenge to implement DRM in the open Internet in a way that attracts customers and really adds value to their experience. Plausibly, there will be many competing DRM solutions. They should, however, be standardized and interoperable enough to enable customers to use information products on different platforms. DRM systems must be appropriately applicable to both open and semi-open networks. It may be technically easier to implement a DRM system in a semi-open environment, but that is not a sufficient solution for a longer-term view. DRM system providers should at least have roadmaps of how to develop their products to work in an open network and on multiple platforms.