Slides from ALPSP DRM Tech Update
Thursday, March 29, 2007
I just noticed that ALPSP have posted the slides from their recent Technology Update on DRM.
My talk, DRM: A Skeptic's View, as you can guess from the title was largely anti-DRM. I attempted to measure DRM against two yard-sticks: ability to enable new business models, and stopping unlicensed usage. My feeling is that DRM fails to achieve on either point. I feel strongly that publishers should be looking at ways to innovate and create new models for selling and licensing content, but that DRM isn't a necessary step to achieving that. I pointed to a few examples of what I think is innovative behaviour, e.g. Safari, Beta books, etc.
I found the talk from the British Library, outlining how they had deployed DRM for their Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service, particularly compelling. Mat Pfleger clearly laid out some of the hidden costs of DRM that they encountered, particularly the increase in user support and the time it took to actually get clients up and running with the required versions of Acrobat. If you're thinking about implementing DRM you should look through this presentation. MIT Libraries recent cancellation of a service because of its use of DRM is also an interesting data point in the ongoing DRM debate.
I'm told that eventually there will be a podcast of the ALPSP event available so you'll be able to listen to all the talks and get the context and discussion not available from the slides alone.
My talk, DRM: A Skeptic's View, as you can guess from the title was largely anti-DRM. I attempted to measure DRM against two yard-sticks: ability to enable new business models, and stopping unlicensed usage. My feeling is that DRM fails to achieve on either point. I feel strongly that publishers should be looking at ways to innovate and create new models for selling and licensing content, but that DRM isn't a necessary step to achieving that. I pointed to a few examples of what I think is innovative behaviour, e.g. Safari, Beta books, etc.
I found the talk from the British Library, outlining how they had deployed DRM for their Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service, particularly compelling. Mat Pfleger clearly laid out some of the hidden costs of DRM that they encountered, particularly the increase in user support and the time it took to actually get clients up and running with the required versions of Acrobat. If you're thinking about implementing DRM you should look through this presentation. MIT Libraries recent cancellation of a service because of its use of DRM is also an interesting data point in the ongoing DRM debate.
I'm told that eventually there will be a podcast of the ALPSP event available so you'll be able to listen to all the talks and get the context and discussion not available from the slides alone.
posted by Leigh Dodds at 11:08 am
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