Frontiers of DRM Knowledge and Technology

In today’s digital world digital information can be copied and distributed with ease and little expense. While this makes life easier for law-abiding citizens, it also facilitates misuse, mass piracy and the violation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) causing revenue loss to many rights holders. Consumers are also concerned about their privacy, and therefore experience a need to be able to have control over their own personal information, including the manner of its acquisition and the use to which it is put. In the future world of ambient intelligence, digital content will be ubiquitous and people will interact with it in all areas of their lives, a situation that presents new challenges in the area of Digital Rights Management (DRM). There are many techniques that can be used by a DRM system to curtail infringements of IPR. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, which must be weighed against each other along with the cost of acquiring, integrating and maintaining them. This paper likewise gives an overview of the frontiers of DRM knowledge and technology in the form of a brief survey. On the basis of this review of the present state of the art and activities in the field of DRM, the paper also charts trends and predicts developments.