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![[Description] UDAC Technologies](../img_navi/nv-t1-e.gif){kind=small}
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| Expectations are rising for digital content distribution services such as video clips, music, and games over a network. These are promising services of a ubiquitous environment. A strong copyright protection system and, at the same time, flexible services what take advantage of the characteristics of various content and distribution media, and thus meet users' needs for convenience and costs are required. |
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The spotlight is now on file exchange software, called peer-to-peer (P2P), such as Napster and WinMX,
which exchanges data like music data in MP3 format.
In these systems, individual computers connected to the Internet directly exchange data.
No copyright royalties or secondary use fees are paid to the rights holders.
As broadband spreads, illegal acts like this are likely to increase. By nature,
P2P technology is not limited to file exchanges.
This technology can be applied to collaboration systems and distributed computing.
It doesn't have servers where load can concentrate, making it an appropriate technology for the next generation Internet,
which will be large-scale will incorporate home information equipment, as well as computers.
This useful P2P technology is portrayed as a villain because it has been used for the free exchange of music files.
When P2P is used in UDAC's rights protection, this villain can be turned into the right way to distribute music.
UDAC can make the following a reality: content is encrypted as it is created and spread to the unused area of the tens of millions of individuals' PCs connected to the network by P2P. The result will be dispersing millions of files of encrypted content, and licenses (decryption keys) will be provided by license management servers directly connected to the backbone. |
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As for cars, telematic services* (coined from telecommunication and informatics) have been launched by,
integrating information concerning traffic, parking lots, restaurants, and directions.
The content distribution service is also in the menu.
*In telematics, a device called TAS (telematics application server) monitors the car from the outside and integrates many functions including that for arranging road services, sending automatic e-mail messages to the driver's residence and/or the insurance company, displaying traffic information, weather, news, and surrounding information, and providing directions, e-mail, and hand-free telephony. How is content distributed to cars?
Similarly, there are different distribution channels such as the wired Internet, which is inexpensive and fast but impossible to connect to cars, mobile phones, whose communication charges are so high that data-intensive content can not be sent, and wireless LAN, which is inexpensive and fast but can only be used in small areas like parking lots. There are also medias like DVD-ROM that can distribute many gigabytes of data at a time, but require time and trouble to distribute. So, it is necessary to choose a proper way to distribute the content according to its nature. Then, what kind of services do consumers want? When you want listen to music in the car, would you be willing to enter the titles of your favorite songs using a keyboard? Even when you are parking, let alone while driving, you can't do something so complex and time-consuming. Maybe, you would prefer to input the genre or the name of the singer by voice. How about some nice music automatically played when driving along the beach? To realize all these options, it would be helpful if a clever search engine chose necessary music from the thousands of already stocked songs in the telematics terminal of the car. How much would the music cost, then? You wouldn't want to use the service for a three-hour drive along the coast if it cost 9,000 yen for 40 songs (three CDs). If a song cost 10 yen per play, you would only need to pay 400 yen. Wouldn't it be convenient if the monthly rate was 1,000 yen for as many songs as you want? In UDAC, various content usage models can be adopted. For example, various settings are possible, such as 10 yen per song per play, 30 yen per song for 10 plays, or 50 yen for limitless plays for three days after purchase. UDAC can also combine multiple distribution measures. If you buy a new car, there are 5,000 songs preinstalled in the telematics terminal, and when you drop by the car dealer, you can get a DVD-ROM with 1,000 songs categorized by genre. Furthermore, if you go shopping at a supermarket, the new 100 songs of the week can be automatically downloaded via the wireless LAN in the parking lot. All the songs are encrypted, and if you don't listen to them, they don't cost anything. When you listen to them, the utilization information and decryption keys are exchanged via the mobile phone network, and you are charged for the services used. |
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Digital Satellite Broadcasting of music content has already started,
and Digital TV and Radio Broadcasting for automobiles is about to start.
A broad range of services have become available because the broadcasts are digital.
Content can be distributed via satellite and stored in terminals as the users desire.
The distribution consist of collecting utilization records from the receiving terminal
and charging the user only for the stored content actually used.
On-demand distribution, which responds to requests from the receivers has also started.
User-friendly services that respond to consumer requests can make effective use of the UDAC access controls.
As is shown in the figure, encrypted content and trial keys (free of charge) are pushed (broadcast) to all the users to demonstrate them, and the encrypted content is stored in the radio receiver at the same time. Users can buy license keys for the songs they find interesting. It is also possible to put encrypted content into the memory area of the user in the background of conventional image broadcasting, and bookmark favorite songs, and buy license keys when the user feels like listening to them. Monthly fixed charges might be more acceptable. Something similar is possible with internet radio. Generally, in streaming broadcast, data played is destroyed to protect illegal re-use of copyrighted materials, but UDAC's combination of encrypted content and keys can prevent illegal use. The content can be used many times if new keys are purchased, and each time the content holders will receive their license fees. |
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In mobile devices consumers carry around, home information electronic appliances,
automatic vendeding machines on street corners or wireless LAN services, and automobiles equipped with information functions,
the information needed to be protected is not just information of copyrighted content such as music, movies, and books.
Functions are needed for personal authentification and preventing interpolation so that important data such as individual IDs,
passwords, customer databases, e-cash, and financial confidential information will be protected.
This is because settlement is often necessary when purchasing content.
Memory cards normally equipped with the public key cryptosystem are listed in the table.
The MOPASS Card is a memory card equipped with application programs such as MULTOS, which is a multi-application operations system for cards, It complias with the extended standards for mobile commerce for flash memory cards that was introduced by five companies: Hitachi, Ltd, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd, Toshiba Corporation, Ingentix GmbH & Co./Ltd., and Sundisk Corporation. |
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| Copyright© 2003-2006 UDAC Consortium. |
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