Digital rights management in a 3G mobile phone and beyond

In this paper we examine how copyright protection of digital items can be securely managed in a 3G mobile phone and other devices. First, the basic concepts, strategies, and requirements for digital rights management are reviewed. Next, a framework for protecting digital content in the embedded environment of a mobile phone is proposed and the elements in this system are defined. The means to enforce security in this system are described and a novel "Family Domain" approach to content management is introduced. Our new approach uses key sharing to help alleviate bad user experiences that are associated with some rights management systems. Examples outlining the enrollment of devices and the acquisition, rendering, and superdistribution of content are shown. Our proposed system is not only applicable to a mobile phone system, but may also be extended to other embedded systems, such as personal digital assistants, set-top boxes, or personal computers.