Home Networking Group Embraces Copy Protection Tech

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Digital Living Network Alliance will roll out its first guidelines for copy protection at the end of October, aimed at setting a standard for link-level content security across a home network.

The group will require use of the Digital Transmission Copy Protection over Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP) as a basis for interoperability among digital rights management (DRM) systems. DLNA will make use of Microsoft's Windows Media DRM for Network Devices (WMDRM-ND) as an option for systems to gain access to additional content, said Scott Smyers, president and chairman of DLNA at a digital-home conference here on Thursday (Oct 12).

Details of the guidelines will be posted at the group's Web site by the end of the month.

The DLNA has not yet defined what its logo for link-level security will look like. A logo working group is still in discussion with members including the Motion Picture Association of America about whether DLNA will have one or multiple logos to signify different features.

Some systems may not be required to adopt the link-level security, some will and others are considered in a "gray area," said Brad Hunt, CTO for MPAA.

DTCP-IP—developed jointly by Intel, Toshiba, Hitachi, Sony and Panasonic—can be implemented solely in software. Its licensing terms are controlled by the Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator.

Hunt said the DTCP-IP and Microsoft link protection technologies are now being implemented in some media bridging systems. DRM schemes currently focus on whether or not a copy can be made of a particular song or movie. Hunt said future systems should recognize a collection of consumer devices and let the user play his paid-for content on any of them.

Several initiatives are working on that issue, including the Coral Consortium, which is developing a framework for DRM interoperability and the Digital Video Broadcast group in Europe.

The DVB's Copy Protection and Copy Management specification should be completed in the first quarter of 2007, Hunt said. However, the key intellectual property holders behind the spec will need to create a trusted reference implementation before the approach can be adopted, he added.