Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

1. Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy L. Chiariglione, G. Cosenza, R. Enni, E. Prosperetti, S. Quintarelli IPDM06, Shanghai, 2006/10/19 Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

2. What is “dmin.it”, “digital media” and the “dmin.it proposal”? • dmin.it is an interdisciplinary, open, non-profit group, with the goal to define and propose areas where Italy can gain a leading role in the exploitation of “digital media” • Digital media is any digitally represented content which can be transported over digital networks and processed by programmable devices • The dmin.it proposal concerns actions designed to maximise the flow of digital media Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

3. The context • Digital media offer a range of advantages • Digital techniques substantially modify the traditional roles in and operational modalities of value chains • So far all attempts at innovating media value chains have failed • Today most digital value chains look like old analogue value chains thanks to control techniques based on proprietary technologies • The size of the “official” market is dwarfed by the size of the “black” market • The problem cannot solved by just “putting people in jail” Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

4. The idea • Finding the right equilibrium point between • The rights of operators to provide services using the technologies that best support their business • The rights of consumers to access services with a minimum level of interoperability if they so wish • Designing the equilibrium point • For the national territory • Respecting international treaties • Achieving the equilibrium point will • Create a homogeneous market of 60 million people • Provide lifeblood to the national culture industry • Stimulate innovation in the digital media market Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

5. The gist of the proposal • The dmin.it proposal requires actions in three different areas: • Rights management of digital media • Network access • Online payment systems • Principles • An operator may utilise both interoperable and proprietary forms of content, network and payment services • A consumer may access both proprietary or interoperable services at his discretion Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

6. Interoperable DRM system/1 • An iDRM specification is adopted at the national level • If a service provider releases content for which he holds exclusive rights using a proprietary technology he must • Release it also using the iDRM technology • At conditions that are not discriminatory compared to the offer made using his proprietary technology Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

7. Interoperable DRM system/2 • The iDRM specifications are • Public • Implemented as Open Source Software • Not prescriptive of a particular business model • Support of management only • Innovative business models • Legitimate intermediation roles • Anybody may realise devices and services, request and obtain conformance certification for them, and offer them to interested parties Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

8. Interoperable DRM system/3 • The governance of the iDRM ecosystem • Managed by representatives of the affected parties • Evolution of specification • Certification • Responsibilities • Financial sustainability • Dispute resolution Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

9. Open network • Two-way broadband operator offer bundled and/or unbundled access to their networks with technical characteristics of their choice • A user of the network (content provider, intermediary or end user) may request and obtain from a two-way broadband operator • The pure two-way service-agnostic access to the "big Internet" • With technical features already offered by the operator • At conditions that are not discriminatory compared to other offers of the operator • Two-way broadband operators • Guarantee network service interoperability • Agree and provide specific QoS levels at peering points so as to provide users end to end QoS levels Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

10. Open payment systems • Anybody can open a “virtual” account based on guaranteed “real” payment systems, e.g. • Bank accounts • Credit cards • Prepaid card • Utility bill (gas, phone etc.) • etc. • Synchronisation between virtual and real accounts performed at regular times or on demand • Transaction costs only apply at synchronisation time Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

11. Advantages • A large homogeneous broadband market can be created • Content creators have a low barrier to access value chains • Provide more value to self-generated content • A more pluralistic market • New intermediation forms can be created by combining • Network access • iDRM • Flexible payment systems supporting micropayments • End users can access content from • Their network operators (bundled) • Outside their operator’s offer (unbundled) • Abundance of properly priced legal content discourages piracy Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy

12. To know more http://www.dmin.it/ Designing the foundations of Information Society in Italy