The Digital Media Project

  

Source

Leonardo Chiariglione, Martin Springer

Title

TRU#74 to improve end-user experience

No.

040803springer01

 

Name:

Leonardo Chiariglione, Martin Springer

Affiliation/additional information:

Active Contributors

Date submitted:

2004/08/03

 

#

Criteria

Description

1.

Name of TRU

TRU to improve end-user experience

2.

Summary description of TRU

The ability of an individual to create content and services that are expected to be of value to the end-user

3.

Use records of TRU

The examples confirm that, at least in the past, there was a drive to improve end-user experience. Of course using innovation should not be an imposition but a free choice for the end-user.

  • Sound recording: vinyl, compact cassette, compact disc, MP3 players. Each of these improved the end-user experience.
  • Radio broadcasting: its ability to stream continuously audio to end-users, albeit with the limitation that the users were limited in the selection of the sound they liked. This was mitigated by the increased number of thematic channels.
  • Server in the sky: Lastly you go to the "server in the sky", arguably the end point in the user experience...

4.

  Nature of TRU

Customary TRU, supported by legislation (or lack thereof...).

5.

Benefits of TRU

The ability to improve the end-user experience essentially it is what justifies continuous innovation in media use, particularly for digital media. All experiences compete with each other on many levels and in different media. There is a market for digital media experiences and if users have a choice, they will create the digital media experience that is most valuable for others. However, recent developments in the distribution and use of digital media (e.g. market concentration, p2p) have posed a threat to the free market of digital media experiences.

6.

Possible digital support

As long as science, research, teaching and art are free, society should be able to improve the end-user experience in the digital domain. However, if media companies own the complete value-chain (creation, distribution, technical infrastructure, billing), it can be a very profitable strategy to create monopolies by introducing proprietary DRM technology. The problem is that most media-related markets do not operate correctly, hence the almost continuous need for government intervention.

The very existence of an interoperable DRM solution will be a potent force driving markets to operate correctly. Without such a solution the prospect of huge concerns controlling the entire value chain is frightening.

7.

Requirements

  • Open standards for content encoding and interoperable rights management
  • Well documented content formats available to the public under fair and reasonable conditions
8. References