Lessig Endorses "DRM"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: March 24, 2006 11:37:37 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Lessig Endorses "DRM"
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

[Note:  This item comes from reader Steh Johnson.  DLH]

From: Seth Johnson <seth.johnson () RealMeasures dyndns org>
Date: March 24, 2006 7:46:50 AM PST
Subject: Lessig Endorses "DRM"


Lessig Blesses "DRM":
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/lessig_blesses_drm/

"Open Media Commons" Releases Specifications and Source Code for
"DRM":
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20060322062359676

Press Release for the First "Open Media Commons" Workshop:
http://www.openmediacommons.org/news/03212006- 
omcworkshop_press_release.html

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

Specifications available under "Open Media Commons" terms at:
https://openmediacommons.org/specs_register.php


Seth


---

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/lessig_blesses_drm/


Lessig blesses DRM


It's open source DRM, so it's good. Huh?


By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco

Published Friday 24th March 2006 06:10 GMT


If you arrive for work today and discover a grisly pool of brain
tissue and bone fragments where a colleague used to sit, we may
have the explanation right here.

For in a move that risks causing Scanners-style head explosions
across the land, Professor Lawrence Lessig has endorsed DRM.

Not just any old digital rights management, but Sun's open source
DRM initiative, the Open Media Commons.

"In a world where DRM has become ubiquitous, we need to ensure
that the ecology for creativity is bolstered, not stifled, by
technology,". says Lessig - or somebody purporting to be Lessig.

"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," says Lessig.

Debian coder and software freedom campaigner Benjamin Mako Hill
finds this strange. "Lessig's position seems to be that DRM is
bad and should not exist. But in a world where it does exist, he
thinks that not-quite-so-bad DRM is better than the alternatives.
Is that the sort of message we want to be sending?," he writes.

"The fact that the software is 'open source' is hardly good
enough if the purpose of the software is to take away users
freedom - in precisely the way that DRM does."

Presumably, Lessig's position is that the development process has
sanctified the evil. But others may take the view that a noose is
a noose is a noose. As Mako points out, Lessig sits on the board
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation - which has already come
out against Sun's OMC - and the Free Software Foundation. Whose
position on software freedom should be clear enough .

Lessig thinking

"Hmm. Why won't this song play?" - Professor Lawrence Lessig

Maybe it's all a terrible mix up. Or maybe . . . maybe it's a
really bad dream!

We'll certainly be exploring this issue tomorrow with both Sun
Microsystems and the Great Man (one of these parties is speaking
to us - while the other is sulking at us - and you can guess
which one is which) tomorrow.

But given the health risks this news poses, we felt it best to
warn you without delay.

---

http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20060322062359676


Open Media Commons Releases Specifications and Source Code for
DRM


Wednesday, March 22 2006 @ 06:23 AM CST

Contributed by: Tommy
(http://www.linuxelectrons.com/users.php?mode=profile&uid=427)

Application NewsSANTA CLARA, Calif. – Sun Microsystems hosted the
first Open Media Commons (OMC) Workshop last week to further the
community's goal of developing open, royalty-free digital rights
management (DRM) and codec standards. In conjunction with the
workshop and building on the announcement last year of Sun Labs'
Project DReaM (DRM/everywhere available), Sun released two draft
specifications for content protection technologies – DReaM-CAS
(Conditional Access System) and DReaM-MMI (Mother May I). Sun
also released open source code for a prototype implementation of
the DReaM-CAS conditional access system. More than 80
participants from a range of organizations came together to
discuss new technical specifications and source code, define
plans for the completion of those specifications and determine
the next steps required to develop an open, royalty-free DRM
solution.

The DReaM-CAS client specification defines a complete open
conditional access system that enables delivery and consumption
of protected content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, using
the MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) format. The CAS model utilizes
open standard technologies for security such as PKI and SSL, as
well as existing content protection technologies such as AES, ECC
and 3DES. In addition, Sun has posted the open source code for a
prototype implementation of the DReaM-CAS conditional access
system (https://dream.dev.java.net/).

The DReaM-MMI specification outlines a different approach to
managing rights for a variety of client types that are directly
or indirectly connected to content networks. The design
philosophy underlying DReaM-MMI is that clients should be able to
negotiate for rights through standardized protocols rather than
downloading a license with an embedded expression of rights. The
specification defines the message protocol, message transport and
a list of profiles required to ascertain rights by a DRM client
from a rights server.

These specific technical measures for content protection form the
core of securing and safeguarding content in any DRM solution.
DReaM, based on a service oriented architecture system design
that leverages open standards, is capable of interoperating
directly with other content protection technologies and supports
services that enable both Conditional Access System and Digital
Rights Management models. The specifications are initially
available under the OMC terms at www.openmediacommons.org, and
Sun ultimately plans to release the implementation code as open
source under the OSI-approved Common Development and Distribution
License (CDDL).

"With more people and devices participating on the network every
day, there is a growing need for the community to develop and
implement an open, safe and business-friendly DRM solution," said
Tom Jacobs, project lead for Open Media Commons and a director in
Sun Microsystems Laboratories. "We're encouraged that
participants from across the DRM value chain, from content
creators, owners and distributors, to consumer electronics device
manufacturers and industry organizations, are coming together to
address the issues and propose viable solutions."

Organizations represented at the workshop include technology
companies such as Cisco, HP and IBM; consumer electronics device
manufactures such as Motorola, Panasonic and Samsung; content
distributors such as Sony BMG and Warner Music Group; network
operators such as Telecom Italia; and industry organizations such
as MPEG-LA. More information from the workshop, including speaker
presentations, transcripts and technical documentation, is
expected to be available shortly.

Supporting Quotes From Workshop Keynote Speakers

Lawrence Lessig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Creative
Commons and Professor of Law at Stanford Law School: "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."

Richard Pietravalle of The MITRE Corporation: "The technology
surrounding digital rights management has widespread application
in the enterprise and the public sector to improve information
sharing, while affording additional protection for sensitive
materials and records. Open, interoperable digital rights
management standards can help increase the availability of
digital rights management-based solutions for the secure sharing
of sensitive materials."

Mariellen Calter of Stanford University Libraries & Academic
Information Resources: "Universities would benefit from open,
standards-based DRM technology that would allow students and
faculty to easily access, use and share copyrighted information
in a fair manner. I'm interested in the work of the Open Media
Commons to develop open-source, interoperable DRM standards that
address the needs of learning institutions."

About the Open Media Commons

Sun's Open Media Commons is an open-source community project to
develop royalty-free codecs and digital rights management (DRM)
solutions. The goals of the OMC are to develop an open-source,
royalty-free solution for the distribution of digital content,
focused on authenticating people and roles, not just devices; to
address the application of DRM technology to a wide range of
content and situations, including personal rights management, the
privacy of health records and compliance management for
businesses dealing with Sarbanes-Oxley; and to create an open
environment where creators, content owners, consumers, network
operators, technology providers and consumer electronics device
manufacturers can work together to address the technical problems
associated with DRM.

---

http://www.openmediacommons.org/news/03212006- 
omcworkshop_press_release.html


News

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: allpress () sun com
(650) 786-7737

Open Media Commons Releases Specifications and Source Code for
Open, Royalty-Free Digital Rights Management

Workshop, Hosted by Sun, Draws Industry Representatives from
Around the World

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—March 21, 2006—Sun Microsystems hosted the
first Open Media Commons (OMC) Workshop last week to further the
community's goal of developing open, royalty-free digital rights
management (DRM) and codec standards. In conjunction with the
workshop and building on the announcement last year of Sun Labs'
Project DReaM (DRM/everywhere available), Sun released two draft
specifications for content protection technologies – DReaM-CAS
(Conditional Access System) and DReaM-MMI (Mother May I). Sun
also released open source code for a prototype implementation of
the DReaM-CAS conditional access system. More than 80
participants from a range of organizations came together to
discuss new technical specifications and source code, define
plans for the completion of those specifications and determine
the next steps required to develop an open, royalty-free DRM
solution.

The DReaM-CAS client specification defines a complete open
conditional access system that enables delivery and consumption
of protected content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, using
the MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) format. The CAS model utilizes
open standard technologies for security such as PKI and SSL, as
well as existing content protection technologies such as AES, ECC
and 3DES. In addition, Sun posted the open source code for a
prototype implementation of the DReaM-CAS conditional access
system at https://dream.dev.java.net.

The DReaM-MMI specification outlines a different approach to
managing rights for a variety of client types that are directly
or indirectly connected to content networks. The design
philosophy underlying DReaM-MMI is that clients should be able to
negotiate for rights through standardized protocols rather than
downloading a license with an embedded expression of rights. The
specification defines the message protocol, message transport and
a list of profiles required to ascertain rights by a DRM client
from a rights server.

These specific technical measures for content protection form the
core of securing and safeguarding content in any DRM solution.
DReaM, based on a service oriented architecture system design
that leverages open standards, is capable of interoperating
directly with other content protection technologies and supports
services that enable both Conditional Access System and Digital
Rights Management models. The specifications are initially
available under the OMC terms at http://www.openmediacommons.org,
and Sun ultimately plans to release the implementation code as
open source under the OSI-approved Common Development and
Distribution License (CDDL).

"With more people and devices participating on the network every
day, there is a growing need for the community to develop and
implement an open, safe and business-friendly DRM solution," said
Tom Jacobs, project lead for Open Media Commons and a director in
Sun Microsystems Laboratories. "We're encouraged that
participants from across the DRM value chain, from content
creators, owners and distributors, to consumer electronics device
manufacturers and industry organizations, are coming together to
address the issues and propose viable solutions."

Organizations represented at the workshop include technology
companies such as Cisco, HP and IBM; consumer electronics device
manufactures such as Motorola, Panasonic and Samsung; content
distributors such as Sony BMG and Warner Music Group; network
operators such as Telecom Italia; and industry organizations such
as MPEG-LA. More information from the workshop, including speaker
presentations, transcripts and technical documentation, is
expected to be available shortly at.

Supporting Quotes From Workshop Keynote Speakers

Lawrence Lessig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Creative
Commons and Professor of Law at Stanford Law School: "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."

Richard Pietravalle of The MITRE Corporation: "The technology
surrounding digital rights management has widespread application
in the enterprise and the public sector to improve information
sharing, while affording additional protection for sensitive
materials and records. Open, interoperable digital rights
management standards can help increase the availability of
digital rights management-based solutions for the secure sharing
of sensitive materials."

Mariellen Calter of Stanford University Libraries & Academic
Information Resources: "Universities would benefit from open,
standards-based DRM technology that would allow students and
faculty to easily access, use and share copyrighted information
in a fair manner. I'm interested in the work of the Open Media
Commons to develop open-source, interoperable DRM standards that
address the needs of learning institutions."

About the Open Media Commons

Sun's Open Media Commons is an open-source community project to
develop royalty-free codecs and digital rights management (DRM)
solutions. The goals of the OMC are to develop an open-source,
royalty-free solution for the distribution of digital content,
focused on authenticating people and roles, not just devices; to
address the application of DRM technology to a wide range of
content and situations, including personal rights management, the
privacy of health records and compliance management for
businesses dealing with Sarbanes-Oxley; and to create an open
environment where creators, content owners, consumers, network
operators, technology providers and consumer electronics device
manufacturers can work together to address the technical problems
associated with DRM.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- guides Sun
in the development of technologies that power the world's most
important markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and
building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of
computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than
100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Frances Freyberg
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
(650) 352-4770
frances.freyberg () sun com

Kimberly Conley
Bite Communications for Sun
(415) 365-0397
kimberly.conley () bitepr com
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>



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