[wos] End of resistance against DRM?

[Volker Grassmuck]

A DReaM or a nightmare?

I just looked at the newly released report by UK market researcher 
Screendigest: "Digital Rights Management and New Entertainment Business 
Models: A strategic analysis
http://www.screendigest.com/reports/06drm/readmore/view.html

It mentions as a DRM "interoperability provider": Sun Microsystem's Dream.

DReaM is for "DRM/everywhere available". DReaM-CAS is for "Conditional 
Access System," a full open source DRM environment for the MPEG-2 
Transport Stream format.

Sun's marvelous marketing label for this project is "Open Media Commons":
http://www.openmediacommons.org/

DReaM  Overview Document
http://www.openmediacommons.org/collateral/DReaM-Overview.pdf

To read the specs you have to register.
https://dream.dev.java.net/

Wired has an article on it:
Reasons to Love Open-Source DRM
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70548-0.html?tw=wn_story_page_prev2

It mentions Lawrence Lessig endorsing Sun's Dream. "The "fair use" 
champion approved Sun's plan, because Sun worked with the Creative 
Commons "pretty much from the outset, to support their license 
definitions," according to Tom Jacobs, director of engineering at Sun 
Labs and the project lead of the Open Media Commons.

Lessig's statement read, "In a world where DRM has become ubiquitous, we 
need to ensure that the ecology for creativity is bolstered, not 
stifled, by technology. We applaud Sun's efforts to rally the community 
around the development of open-source, royalty-free DRM standards that 
support 'fair use' and that don't block the development of Creative 
Commons ideals."

Even the Wired author has his doubts about it.

EFF's Cory Doctorow remains firm in his opposition to any kind of DRM:
Sun's "Open Media Commons" Is More Like a Gated Community, August 24, 2005
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_08.php#003929

And it makes the Register's Andrew Orlowski's head explode:
Lessig blesses DRM. It's open source DRM, so it's good. Huh?
Andrew Orlowski, 24th March 2006
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/lessig_blesses_drm/


And what do we do with it at wos? Do we follow Lessig into a world of 
green, politically correct, interoperable, open source, five copies 
allowed DRM? Uninvite him? Put him on the stand?

at a loss
Volker