Microsoft, HP, Others Back Common XML Rights Language

As first reported by CRN last Friday, XML interoperability committee OASIS said those members will try to advance the Extensible Rights Markup Language (XrML) as a standard for specifying and managing rights associated with digital content and Web services.

The creation of the XML Rights Language Technical Committee and planned OASIS specification comes as Microsoft and others prepare digital rights management platforms to allow for greater interoperability among Web services and applications in the .Net era.

XrML will also provide a method for managing the creation, distribution and use of digital assets within and across different industries, according to an OASIS statement released Tuesday.

Microsoft is quietly developing a Unified Digital Rights management platform consisting of a set of formats and protocols for assigning digital rights to Office.Net documents in the future. While product plans remain fluid, sources say the company eventually plans a DRM server and .Netservice currently dubbed ePub.Net.

The DRM platform currently involves the Windows Media group and Office teams, sources also say.

One service provider, who requested anonymity, said Microsoft's DRM initiative is a major "star wars concept" that spans across Microsoft and will be deployed as a series of servers and services over the next decade.

"We are familiar with this, but it's a slow burn," said the service provider. "What Microsoft has done is commingle two things, their vision of what pervasive computing can be while at the same time implementing .Net."