California DReaMing

Eliot Van Buskirk grapples with the apparent self-contradiction of open-source DRM:

Another potential objection to Sun’s plan is that it sounds a lot like existing Microsoft or Apple DRM, in which secure content only plays on certified devices. But there’s one major difference in that area: The certification process would be run by a standards body, rather than by individual companies.

I asked Jacobs to explain who would certify the players, and what would block the non-certified players from playing DReaM-protected content. “There will be an independent legal entity whose sole job it would be to take submissions of devices or players and do certification and testing of the device,” he said. He expects that group will be in place by the summer.

Any manufacturer in the world would be able to add support for DReaM files at a negligible expense (remember, this is open source) and submit its device to the standards body for certification, similar to the way CSS worked with DVD players. Players and programs that aren’t certified cannot legally use the DReaM scheme to play protected content.

There seems to be a strange definition of “open source” at work here. In fact, it’s unlikely that any genuinely open source software would be able to receive certification–just as open source software has been unable to get a license from the DVD CCA–because anyone could modify the software post-certification in order to bypass the DRM scheme’s restrictions.

But the more fundamental point is that the openness of the DRM system would be entirely dependent on the nature of the restrictions the “standards body” placed on the functionality of approved devices. (Actually, describing it as a “standards body” in the first place strikes me as an abuse of language–IEEE doesn’t require me to get its certification before I can build devices that implements an IEEE standard) If the “standards body” imposes highly restrictive rules on the design and functionality of compliant devices, it won’t be any different than existing DRM schemes. The DVD CCA and Cable Labs are ostensibly independent certification organizations too. While it’s possible that the DReaM certification organization will allow greater diversity than existing DRM licensing organizations, there don’t appear to be any guarantees to that effect. And given that the DReaM licensing organization will likely be controlled by industry incumbents, it will most likely become a tool for incumbents to exclude competitors and limit functionality, just like existing DRM licensing bodies.

I would love to be proven wrong, but I’m not holding my breath.

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