IFPI, RIAA In New Effort To Harmonize DRM Systems

The IFPI and the RIAA have joined a new consortium of copyright owners and technology companies developing a system that will enable different digital rights management (DRM) software to communicate with each other.

The system?which is being developed by Rightscom, a London-based digital rights consultancy?is a form of technology dictionary. It aims to help rights owners apply the same language when offering digital-delivery services with software by different DRM suppliers, such as Microsoft Corp. or InterTrust.

Currently, several secure Web sites fail to stipulate the precise conditions required before consumers can download music, says Rightscom's Chris Barlas. Furthermore, he says, the rules for how often a track can be downloaded or copied and how long it can be stored on a computer can vary and confuse.

"Unless we have an agreed dictionary, we shall have nothing but chaos and DRM users will not be able to guarantee that consumers will interpret [DRM] instructions in the same way," he adds.

Rightscom will submit the framework for the "dictionary" in Pattaya, Thailand, at the December meeting of the Moving Picture Experts Group, the international institution seeking to standardize digital content distribution.