Share the Wealth

EMI is leading the charge to transform the nightmare scenario of superdistribution - users circulating content without paying for it - into a lucrative business model. ¶
Previously, Digital Rights Management (DRM) was about keeping honest users honest. Content protection - not promotion - was the focus, and companies rushed to develop DRM solutions and technologies to prevent users from sharing content with their peers. ... ¶ This stringent approach to DRM has the buy-in of major media companies because it protects music downloads and video clips from unauthorized distribution. But it also ignores user requirements to control and use this content as they like – including the freedom to access it, port it and distribute it among their peers and across a number of devices and platforms. To create a sustainable mobile content offering operators and content rights owners have to control, protect and charge for content. But they must also fulfil user demands for a seamless customer experience – and the freedom to share. ¶ Against this backdrop, superdistribution is gaining traction, and the business model media companies once considered taboo is now poised to go mainstream. ... Link: TheFeature.