1. The Digital Battery From: Budd, T.A. "Protecting and Managing Electronic Content with a Digital Battery". IEEE Computer (2001) 2-8. Steve Lord

2. Budd proposes that all electronic entertainment, such as music and video should be encrypted. Users would pay for a digital battery that decodes the content, rather than paying for the content itself. Summary

3. Good things about this paper Addresses a serious problem for content providers Criticisms of this paper Never been practically implemented Short on technical details

4. The problem: Budd says that unauthorized copying of digital media is destroying the entertainment industry

5. According to Budd, two Solutions: Try to prevent people from making copies OR Monitor when the product is being used.

6. Digital battery : the idea All content is encrypted, and can only be unlocked with a digital battery. User pays for the digital battery, not for the content itself. Battery identifies the content being used. Royalties allocated to content-provider when battery is returned/re-charged.

7. Advantages for producers: Will know when their product is used More accurate measure of popularity Advantages for consumers: Have a resistance to degrading content - paying for battery is more acceptable Consumers also want anonymity.

8. What kind of cryptography? RSA (public-private key) or Advanced Encryption Standard (private key) (AES had just been introduced at time of writing)

9. One major problem: All content will be protected by the same key – hacking into one gets you into all. Budd’s defence: Make decryption economically unprofitable Courts will vigorously prosecute hackers Make batteries so easy to use, pirating would not be worth the trouble.

10. For discussion: “Secure Digital Music Initiative” (SDMI), has already failed due to conflicting interests among its members. Can a scheme like the digital battery ever satisfy everyone: content providers, consumers, IT companies?