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This chapter of Digital Needs:
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Considers the problems of and requirements for digital
publishing.
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Proposes a technical, commercial and legal infrastructure to
address these problems and requirements.
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Analyzes potential problems in transition to the proposed
infrastructure.
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The highlights of these problems and requirements and this
proposed infrastructure are presented below.
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Problems
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While digital technology promises lower cost, improved
distribution and easier access to published goods, this promise
has yet to be fulfilled for digital publishing. Reasons for this
failure include:
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Protection of digital goods is technically difficult. The
popularity of MP3s clearly demonstrates the consumer desire for
digital publishing, but also demonstrates the difficulty of
limiting distribution of such goods.
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Copyright law is complex and is fundamentally ill suited to the
digital age. The law, with its thicket of fair use and industry
specific exceptions, is simply not understood by the consumer.
More importantly, its foundation, the granting of a monopoly over
copying and distribution, is unworkable in the digital world,
where each access to the good requires that copies be made.
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Digital publishing is inseparably
linked to other digital concerns. Encryption is required to
restrict distribution of digital goods – but encryption
impacts public safety. Identification of consumers is required to
limit distribution – but identification impacts privacy.
Thus, solving the problems of digital publishing requires that
these linked concerns also be resolved.
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Requirements
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A successful digital publishing infrastructure must meet both
consumer and vendor requirements. Some of these requirements are:
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Digital goods should fulfill the promise of the digital world.
They should be inexpensively priced, immediately available and
portable across devices.
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The bargain governing the sale and distribution of digital
goods should be easily and widely understood.
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This bargain should closely match the current naive consumer
expectations of purchased information goods:
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Sales models should support both permanent purchase and short
term rental.
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Access should not be prevented by: temporary isolation from the
network, damage to or loss of equipment, changes in technology or
the demise of vendor companies.
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The privacy of the consumer’s actions and interests should
be protected.
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Digital goods, once published should remain published.
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Digital goods should be protected against unauthorized access.
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AVDS (Access Vendor Digistore) System
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In order to meet the requirements related above, the AVDS
(pronounced “avids”) infrastructure is proposed.
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The principal agents of AVDS are access vendors and digistores
(digital storage services):
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Access vendors sell and rent digital good access rights. They
act by contract with the digital good owner, who retains
monopolistic control over such sales.
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Digistores distribute the digital good on a competitive basis.
Any digistore may distribute a particular digital good after the
consumer has proven his access rights.
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Other agents provide additional services:
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Library access vendors offer access rights to libraries of
digital goods in exchange for subscription fees. Like direct
access vendors, they act by contract with the digital good owners.
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Access registrars, trusted by both consumers and vendors,
maintain records of consumers’ access rights.
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Re-use vendors license digital goods for re-use in other
digital goods.
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A digital good registrar registers digital good ownership, and
serves as a central digistore.
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A digital good certifier verifies that various vendors meet
standards of security, reliability and privacy.
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In a typical transaction, a user might:
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Receive a reference to a digital good from a friend.
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Purchase access rights from the access vendor, who registers
the purchase with an access registrar.
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Download a copy of the digital good from a digistore to the
consumer’s trusted platform, using the access registrar to
prove access rights.
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Naturally, this procedure might vary in a number of ways:
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The consumer might rent or preview the digital good before
buying it.
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He might use a library access vendor to gain access to the
digital good.
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AVDS Solves Problems
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It provides technical, commercial and legal mechanisms to limit
the distribution of digital goods.
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It replaces copyright law with a system better suited to
realities of the digital age. It is expected that AVDS will first
be implemented in contract law, but might later migrate to more
direct legal recognition.
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It integrates with solutions that address related issues.
Hardware is addressed in Chapter 4: Hardware, privacy is addressed
in Chapter 9: Cyberself Control, public safety is addressed in
Chapter 11: Civic Digics, and consumer action is addressed in
Chapter 12: Consumers Union.
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AVDS Meets Requirements
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Requirements are met by the described infrastructure plus
additional technical and legal components.
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AVDS fulfills the promise of the digital world: it encourages
reduced pricing, and ensures that digital goods are immediately
available and portable across devices.
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AVDS provides an easily understood sale and distribution
bargain which closely corresponds to the current naive consumer
expectations of purchased information goods:
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Purchased digital goods can be viewed anywhere, anytime on any
trusted platform.
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Digital goods can be purchased or rented through access vendors
or library access vendors.
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Access to digital goods is protected from: temporary isolation
from the network, damage to or loss of equipment, changes in
technology and/or the demise of vendor companies. Local caching of
digital goods allows access while isolated from the network. The
infrastructure renders loss of and damage to equipment and changes
in technology irrelevant. Demise of vendor companies is protected
from by duplication of services and various legal restrictions
aimed at achieving continuity. (For example, the digital good
registrar will automatically appoint a replacement access vendor
for a digital good if the registered access vendor fails.)
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Protection of consumer privacy is imposed on vendors by the
digital good certifier and other legal mechanisms. (Additional
monitoring is provided by groups described in Chapter 9: Cyberself
Control.)
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Once a digital good is published, it is guaranteed to be
available. AVDS legally restricts access vendors from withdrawing
digital goods from publication or from raising prices
unreasonably.
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AVDS protects against unauthorized distribution by police
action and through the use of trusted platforms (hardware and/or
software platforms built to respect the terms of access
contracts).
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