Integrating DRM with P2P

Following is the executive summary of a white paper by Digitail Containers

The rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks has been an inevitable outgrowth of the rise of the Internet. Unfortunately, P2P networks have grown from useful tools in information sharing to havens for trafficking in unauthorized copies of intellectual property (IP). Owners of IP, meanwhile, have been pushing for digital rights management (DRM) technologies to control distribution of IP so that it does not fall into the wrong hands.

Supporters of P2P networks appear to be at odds with DRM-supporting IP owners, but P2P networks offer a lot to users as well as other participants in content business models, and they are here to stay. Integration of DRM into P2P architectures is inevitable, as IP owners try to walk the fine line between embracing functionality that users want and maintaining control over their IP.

This white paper explains the motivation for and inevitability of integrating DRM with P2P. After briefly reviewing how both DRM and P2P came into being, we explain the need and opportunity to integrate DRM functionality into P2P networks. We discuss features of DRM technology that make it especially appropriate for integration with P2P, and we summarize shortcomings of many existing DRM solutions with respect to those features. We conclude with some suggestions for how to develop the market for DRM solutions that are optimal for integration with P2P networks.