The Need for a DRM to Digital Publishers

Components of the Learning Ecosystem

Characteristics of the Learning Ecosystem

Contribution of mPowerO to Problem Statement of Robotex India

Problem Resolution from mPowerO to Robotex India

mpowero Case Studies of Robotex India

DRM at its simplest is the copyright protection enabled to protect a file making it accessible only to the one who purchases it.

The Internet makes both file sharing easy and monitoring piracy virtually not possible. Finding an alternate route, hence, was an urgent need so as to protect the copyrights of digital content, so as not to lose the revenue.

DRM or Digital Rights Management thus came into existence. DRM uses technology to protect the copyright of the content. The control of the digital content passes from the content owner to a computer program.

A Company may possibly adopt several routes to DRM – block emails with sensitive content on servers, digital publishers can restrict access to the copying, printing and distribution of their digital content.

DRM serves as an extra layer of protection in securing the digital content. Here are a few advantages in using DRM for digital publishers:

a) Added Protection:

DRM adds an extra layer of protection to their digital content/books and other copyrighted content for digital publishers.

b) Revenue Protection:

Peer-to-peer sharing sites open up avenues for free sharing of copyrighted content and hence cause a loss of revenue.

Digital Publishers can take advantage of low-cost online sales and marketing initiatives, thereby saving on budgets, if the digital content is DRM-protected thus avoiding piracy and revenue loss.

c) Increased ROI:

Digital Publishing enables Publishers to publish digital content at minimal costs without printing overheads. There is also an added value through instant delivery worldwide with zero delivery charges.

All this is lost if the content is not copyright protected. DRM protected digital content significantly increases ROI by ensuring to get paid for intellectual property.

d) IPR Control:

With the implementation of DRM, Publishers can define a lifecycle by setting an expiry date by not only controlling who views the content but also what is being further made of it.

The buyer of the digital content would no longer be able to view the content in such situations and hence the Publishers have a better control in the form of maintaining IPR and preventing IPR threat.

e) Regulatory Compliance:

For digital publishers, ensuring that their digital content is strongly encrypted and comes with a User’s licence so that unauthorised access can be prevented is the best practice.

Confidential information needs to be maintained with a lot of people outside the organisation and hence the responsibility to maintain such confidentiality vests with the Publisher. Hence, several regulations aiming to ensure secure control of business information is critical and by implementing DRM protection, storing such sensitive information and distributing to the right people without any loss of confidentiality/control is made possible.

Conclusion:

Just publishing the digital content to survive and thrive in the digital world is just not enough. Securing the content with a DRM protection is a must. Digital content needs to be safe in the form of DRM-protected secure digital books so that they reach the right audience at the right time.

Digital books can be easily duplicated, modified or changed. At times, they can also be passed off as originals. With digital locks in place, authenticity of your digital content and hence credibility of the brand can be protected.