Sony Tries Using Blockchain Tech For Next-Gen DRM (engadget.com)

Sony announced Monday that it's using blockchain technology for digital rights management (DRM), "starting with written educational materials under the Sony Global Education arm of the business," reports Engadget. "This new blockchain system is built on Sony's pre-existing DRM tools, which keep track of the distribution of copyrighted materials, but will have advantages that come with blockchain's inherent security." From the report: Because of the nature of blockchain, which tracks digital transactions in records that are particularly difficult to forge or otherwise tamper with, its application as a DRM tool makes sense and may also help creators keep tabs on their content. Currently, it's up to creators themselves (or the companies they create for) to monitor their contents' rights management. Sony's system could take over the heavy lifting of DRM. The way blockchain works allows Sony to track its content from creation through sharing. This means that users of the blockchain DRM tool will be able to see -- and verify -- who created a piece of work and when. Sony Global Education is the current focus of the DRM tool, but going forward, the company hints that the rest of its media -- including entertainment like music, movies, and virtual reality content -- may be protected the same way.

Comments

Re:What value added?

[Sarten-X]

My guess (and it is purely a guess, since TFS and TFA are so light on detail) is that transactions involving works will be logged in a blockchain. I buy a movie, and that purchase is linked to my particular account. I can then loan that movie to someone else, and the transfer gets logged. When it's returned to me, that's logged, too... Unless I happen to be disconnected from the blockchain-handling system, in which case I'd be stuck with the last-known state of property ownership.

If everything works like that, then a content owner could track their creation and see that I loaned a movie to someone... because apparently that's something Sony thinks they care about. Like many other DRM systems, it also allows Sony to revoke rights to works by authoritatively transferring them away, unless there's a crypto method to authorize a transfer (which is not indicated in TFS or TFA).

Pretty much, it provides nothing of technical value that wouldn't be served better by a central database. For marketing value, though, blockchain's an excellent choice right now.