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 1980's. 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.