The drm game

Abstract

In this paper we cast DRM in a setting that allows us to model a number of current approaches as games. The DRM game is partitioned into two subgames, one that considers the game associated with content acquisition, and a second that considers how a consumer uses the content, along with a vendor's response to this usage. Examples are provided in order to demonstrate how these subgames correspond to real situations associated with content industries, and the conditions under which Nash equilibria will exist. These subgames form the primary stage of a repeated game that models a number of important long-term interactions between consumers and vendors. We analyze current strategies that attempt to influence the outcome of the repeated game, and we also consider a new type of architectural infrastructure that makes novel use of a trust authority in order to create a suitable environment for constructing DRM games that may prove useful in the future.