Digital Rights Management in the Higher Education Sector

Executive Summary

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has become a much discussed topic, both nationally and internationally over the past eighteen months. It is, however, a concept open to widely differing interpretations. This particular study is one attempt to try and understand how DRM relates to the emerging online learning environments within the Australian higher education sector. In undertaking this study, the primary aims have been to:

• develop a coherent strategic approach to addressing a range of DRM issues relating to the development of new DRM-enabled managed learning and information environments for the higher education sector;

• produce a high-level ‘blue-print’ for DRM architectures applicable across all education sectors;

• enhance and promote Australia’s ability to contribute to the IMS and other relevant international standards-setting processes.

The study develops a very structured and comprehensive overview of DRM, including rights issues and the potential benefits for online education environments. It is important that this overview be studied closely because the needs of the higher education sector for DRM go well beyond the issue of rights enforcement as promulgated by the software industry. In a thriving online learning and information environment, there will be extensive movement of learning and information resources and re-use, or repurposing, is integral to the way online learning takes place. The complexities of managing rights in such dynamic environments are considerable and it is for this reason that DRM is of key importance to the online learning marketplace.

Two key scenarios are presented, one relating to the use of learning objects in a particular course and one relating to access to library electronics information resources. These two scenarios demonstrate two very different sets of characteristics and different levels of complexity, but both require a structured approach to the application of DRM.

It is acknowledged that the development and trade in learning objects is still in its infancy and that it is more ‘talked-about than done’. There is no doubt, however, that the emergent learning management systems and learning content management systems, together with content management systems for Web resources, offer the systems capability for a high degree of interoperability and they offer a solid context for the incorporation of DRM solutions.

The challenge now is to develop information architectures and a systems framework encapsulating the complexities of the scenarios envisaged in the higher education sector. There are no easy answers to this challenge and a great deal of work now has to be done in developing appropriate standards and protocols to facilitate the incorporation of DRM as an integral part of the systems component framework.

Bearing this in mind, the following recommendations deserve serious attention within the higher education sector and by the various funding authorities:

• Ensure that IMS Australia Centre takes the lead in forming a DRM group within the IMS Digital Repositories Working Group.

• Promote additional participation from the higher education sector in the IMS DRM group.

• Ensure that this report is used as input into the new IMS DRM group, in particular, the requirements outlined in Section 3.3 (Scenario requirements).

• Encourage the IMS DRM group to establish a formal liaison with the Open eBook Forum Rights and Rules (OEBF R&R)Work Group and to work together to form a unified DRM solutions for learning objects (including all forms of e-publications).

• Merge and reconcile the requirements outlined in Section 3.3 (Scenario requirements) of this report with the OeBF Rights and Rules requirements.

• Ensure that the IMS DRM group tracks the progress of the MPEG RDD–REL work to facilitate cross-compatibility.

• Report the progress of the DRM initiatives back to the higher education sector via the COLIS group and relevant peak bodies through seminars and other outreach/feedback mechanisms.

• Develop pilot projects through COLIS in the first instance to test systems architectures and the phased implementation of DRM systems modules.

• Prepare further proposals for submission to the various funding agencies.

• Establish firm links with the K–12 DRM interoperability initiatives.

• Seek development alliances with State-based DRM initiatives.

Because DRM affects all stakeholders in the online learning environment, including systems developers, content providers, academic staff, administrators and students, the organisational challenges of developing coherent and manageable strategies are significant and this means that the political and cultural issues are just as important as the technical issues outlined in this report.

The incentives however, for achieving success in this area are considerable, because digital rights managements could lay the foundations for Australia to become highly competitive and efficient as a national and international provider of higher education online learning.

Full Report (696KB)

Return to the Top of the Page

Any comments or queries should be sent to: wwweditor@dest.gov.au

This page was last updated on Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Department of Education, Science and Training
Copyright © Commonwealth of Australia
DETST Web Site Privacy Statement
Disclaimer