[iDC] Digital Rights Management and Internet2

[Trebor Scholz]

Some reports say that the routers will execute a new generation of
Digital Rights Management (DRM). Others claim that Internet2¹s routing
protocol IPv6 can easier identify and locate p2p file sharers (they call
it "identity and access management"). Internet2 is the name of a
consortium. The Abilene network is an initiative of I2. It is private.
The Abilene project is often referred to as Internet2.

 "The actual network is the Abilene project that is supported greatly by
Qwest Communications through the use of Qwest's optical fiber networks .
Internet2's Abilene transport agreement with Qwest is due to expire
somewhere around October of 2007."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet-2>

"...the protocol for IP network-layer encryption and authentication ‹ is
an integral part of the base protocol suite in IPv6."

My understanding is that IPv6 makes it easier to identify users by
allowing for longer IP addresses. Other I2 technologies include
multicast and quality of service.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_service>

It is clear that the MPPA and RIAA joined I2 to make sure peer-2-peer
file sharing is not possible on this high-bandwidth network.

"The Motion Picture Association of America is in talks with the
Internet2 research consortium, hoping both to test next-generation video
delivery projects and to monitor peer-to-peer piracy on the
ultrahigh-speed network." 

"We've been working with Internet2 for a while to explore ways we can
take advantage of delivering content at these extremely high speeds, and
basically manage illegitimate content distribution at the same time,"
said Chris Russell, the MPAA's vice president of Internet standards and
technology. "Those would go hand in hand."

<http://news.com.com/Hollywood+seeks+Internet2+tests,+P2P+oversight/2100
-1026_3-5458537.html>

The recording industry (RIAA) and hollywood (MPAA) are keen on figuring
out I2. They quickly sued students over i2hub. 

Film distribution is costly. The goal is for cinemas to be able to
download feature films and household to have access to  have easy
pay-on-demand movies. 

<http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/>
<http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/guide/>

Concerns arise about our role in relation to any network.  Have a quick
look at the NSF MiddleWare Initiative. 

There it states differing ideas about Digital Rights Management by
Industry and Academia in relation to I2. That seems to be the crux of
it--

"user as consumer, producer, distributor (flexible access)" vs. "user as
consumer (pay-per-view)."

<http://www.terena.nl/about/ga/ga18/AAAsymposium/Martin.ppt>

From the ppt.:

"Industry: DRM = protect the copyright owner¹s rights through
enforcement and support licensing model. Emphasis on media packaging,
encryption and trusted systems.

Industry: One-to-one, Pay-per-view, User as consumer, Trusted systems,
Use monitoring, Static content, Proprietary hardware/software
Research & Education: DRM = enable access while managing intellectual
property and protecting user¹s privacy. Balance between copyright
owner¹s and user¹s rights.

Academia: One-to-many, many-to-many, Flexible access, User as consumer,
producer, distributor, Privacy, Dynamic content, Inter-institutional,
cross realm access, Interoperability"

"It looks like the MPAA is pretty scared that Internet2 users are able
to trade movies at high speed without them being able to know what's
being traded, since you have to be a member of the Internet2 network to
have a connection.  As a result, they are asking to become a member."

<http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/18/2340221&tid=97&tid=95&
tid=17>

I agree with Andreas that there will always be hacks of existing DRM
setups.

<http://slashdot.org/articles/06/02/25/2115218.shtml>

best,
Trebor