Zugl.: Wien, Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2006

Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Diss., 2007

Diss. Univ. Bern, 2005.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

In recent years, technological developments have led to digital files being more easily distributed, for example through Napster (a file sharing service on the Internet). In order to manage and control the distribution of digital files, a new concept has been developed, called DRM (Digital Rights Management). The purpose is to set every single file with individual rights that are extremely hard to break, and consequently make people pay and use the files legally. The file will then be fully protected from intrusion and alteration until the set rights expire. The goal of this thesis is to look into and summarise DRM of today. We have concentrated on the mobile DRM market, and especially mobile phones. Especially the solutions/applications that already exist and their functionality and properties, but also requirements regarding security levels, compatibility etc. We have also added predictions of the near future, ours as well as others. Existing applications for DRM are well made but few are constructed for mobile phones. Mobile phones will however be a good and secure platform for DRM. At present there is no DRM application inserted in mobile phones in Europe. The third generation (3G) network will push the progress with the capability of broader bandwidth, with capacity of downloading more content to the phone. Since the mobile phone software is embedded and the mobile phones are within a trusted network, the security level of a DRM application in a mobile phone can be discussed. A lower level of security would make it easier for managing content but also open up the market for hackers that wish to trespass. With a lower level of security you always have to consider the consequences and often it creates more problems than it solves. We believe the DRM market and its value will increase exponentially over the next few years. The number of players on the mobile Internet DRM market will be less than on the Internet DRM market, due to the complexity of getting applications into the phone. The latter will consist of many more players, and remain fragmented, since it is an open market.

<p>Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technology that allows service and content providers to distribute and sell digital content in a secure way. The content is encrypted and packaged with a license that is enforced before playback is allowed.</p><p>This thesis covers how a DRM system works and gives some cryptographic background. It also shows how Microsoft DRM for Network Devices can be implemented on an ip-based set-top box.</p>

Univ., Diplomarb.--Wien, 2006.

With the digital revolution within video games, the need for Digital Rights Management (DRM) has increased significantly, alongside with the increasing problem of copyright pirates. To counter pirates, DRM was created to prevent illegal copying of software, this to ensure that the Distributors received an income for their work. DRM has, since the start of its use, been getting, a lot of bad criticism from the users of the software protected by DRM.  The main function of this paper is to describe the creation and development of DRM by analysis of the vision of different groups on this phenomenon. The main questions are as follows, is it possible to define the very reason for why DRM was created and if so, can its development through time be defined too? What differences in opinions are there when it comes to DRM, counting the two major groups of creators, sellers, distributors (referred to as distributors) versus individual users (referred to as consumers)? In what way will the research results suggest that the future DRM will develop? The development has gone from solving puzzles in a handbook to start the game each time the user wants to play, to serial numbers that is needed during the installation of the game. Even more extreme measures has been taken, consisting of the installation of an external software to verify the license key and ensure that no illegal actions were taken.  Distributors have shown through the years that the use of DRM is a must to protect their games from piracy. With the years that gone by, the DRM-system has developed into a more advanced software protection system and with this more problems have begun to emerge affecting the legal consumers, like errors preventing the users from playing the game. At the same time Distributors show little interest to remove or lower the usage of DRM. Users believe that the removal of DRM is the perfect solution, but discard the fact that a software without any kind of copy protection would risk not to generate any income at all for the developers.  When we consider now and then, we can see distinct patterns of continuing development of DRM-methods that do not create the same amount of issues for the consumers. The problem however previously addressed by DRM to stop illegal copies has now shifted to whether the consumers have the right to modify or change their purchased games.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2006.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2006.