THE DIGITAL MEDIA MANIFESTO
Rationale
(2003/09/30)
Digital Technologies have spawned huge and profitable industries, like IT, micro-electronics and digital communication. They have also been employed for audio and audio-visual media, yielding such formats as CD and DVD. The Digital Media experience enabled by combinations of PC, media compression, digital networks and protocols like P2P has enticed end users with many more offerings than CD and DVD. User satisfaction notwithstanding, it is a fact that most business models for innovative Digital Media have been unprofitable or are being challenged in the courts.
The success stories of other digital technology-driven industries dwarf most Digital Media businesses, remarkably few of which are so far profitable, legitimate and with a good user experience. Established media companies start law suits against those who infringe on their rights and with legislative lobbying to request limitations on the scope of traditional user rights and privacy. Technology companies offer DRM solutions, but these contain features that do not satisfy existing business players, arouse concern in new players and are opposed by user associations because they restrict traditional user rights and privacy.
The economic and social potential of a dynamic Digital Media future is vast. The absence of implemented practical solutions leaves everybody in a damaging stalemate. So far, efforts to break the Digital Media stalemate have failed because efforts have been fragmented, stemming from beliefs that law alone or technology alone could do the job. A synergistic course of action on both the legislative and technological fronts is needed.
The execution of the actions above will create the conditions for the realisation of the Digital Media Manifesto vision: to make an improved Digital Media Experience economically rewarding on a global scale, legitimate for the multiplicity of players on the value chain and satisfactory for end-users, with the ultimate goal of realising a fuller Digital Media Experience.