[Paper Overview] [DRM-Workshop Homepage]
Julian Durand - Nokia
Almost 20 years ago Nokia launched the Talkman, a wireless telephone roughly the size and weight of a car battery. Today, wireless phones are giving way to multi-function devices connected to the mobile Internet. The recently launched Nokia 9210 Communicator combines support for multiple content formats (html, wml, gif, jpeg), high data speeds up to 43.2 kbit/sec, and supports http, WAP and Java. The next generation of wireless devices shall offer further media consumption capabilities adding web tablets and media phones to the consumer market.
Convergence is a fact of life and accelerating. Network environments of the Internet, Intranet, Extranet and 2G/3G networks are increasingly defined by the the content the carry as opposed to the communciations protocol that is used. Since the intellectual assets of a company are its most valuable commodity, the way in which these assets are consumed is of primary importance. As the networks converge, the persistent protection of information and enforcement of business rules and social rules in the digital domain becomes crucial.
Similarly, the addressable identity of a persona is defined by a personal telephone number, web address and personal email address whereas in the recent past telephones were shared (at least among family members) and so was your postal address. There are also inherent risks associated with this flexibility and convenience: the invasion of an individuals privacy. As our identity converges to one independent of time and space, we become increasingly vulnerable to over zealous marketers, malevolent governments and rogue hackers. To mitigate these risks, privacy policies of the individual must be protected and enforced.
Multi-function devices today are capable of handling telephone
calls, emails and access to the Internet access. In the Mobile
Internet Technical Architecture (MITA) we consider these as 'rich
call', 'messaging' and 'browsing' respectively and are considered
the fundamental interaction modes that will continue to persist
in the future. The nature and capabilities of the modes will
expand in the future with rich call
including video
conferencing in 3G networks. Messaging will extend to instand
messaging, real time chat, and rich format emails. Browsing will
include richer content types, eventually including music,
multimedia and video.
Therefore, the consumer of the future will have access to richer content. In order to ensure that premium content is available, the rights of content providers must be governed in a persistent manner.
In summary, MITA is Nokia's global initiative to develop a comprehensive technical architecture for the mobile Internet. Its target is seamless interoperability between interaction modes, networks and access methods to enable the optimum consumer experience as it drives towards new technology, products, services and open standards to maximise traffic and create multiple revenue streams (WAP Forum, SyncML, MeT, OEBF…)
A key component of this vision is protection of the intellectual property of businesses, the privacy of individuals and the rights of content providers. These are Nokia's general needs of a DRM system.
Nokia hopes that there is sufficient common ground resulting from the Workshop that a W3C Activity proposal will be generated.
Nokia today announced a global initiative to develop a comprehensive technical architecture for the mobile Internet. The initiative, Nokia Mobile Internet Technical Architeture, aims to provide seamless interoperability between all interaction modes, any network environment and with any type of access. Nokia invited developers, service providers, operators and other industry players from around the world to participate in creating a user friendly Mobile Internet experience.
"Nokia is taking the lead in developing the specifications for building a seamless Mobile Internet experience for consumers," said Mikko Terho, Senior Vice President, Nokia Mobile Internet Technical Architecture. "We will do this by identifying the relevant communication modes, by defining the key technologies required to support them and by driving industry participation to develop a common wireless Internet platform. As the leading global player in mobile communications, Nokia is in an ideal position to define the structure and key building blocks for the mobile Internet."
In developing a clear technical architecture for the Mobile Internet, Nokia aims to limit the complexity of the technical environment; users do not want to worry about the underlying technologies. Nokia sees three key elements as fundamental to the Mobile Internet Technical Architecture: identity, interaction modes and netwok environment. Bringing these together and managing the challenges they pose is at the core of this initiative and will ensure high-quality and seamless interoperability in end-to-end services.
Nokia has also added a dedicated section on its developer forum Internet site: www.forum.nokia.com. This site provides developers, service providers, operators and other industry players with an environment in which to participate in further developing this technical framework.
Nokia Mobile Internet Technical Architecture will bring benefits to consumers, developers, service providers, operators and vendors. For consumers, standardized solutions brings value for money, ease of use and richness in the choice of services. The consumer does not need to worry about interoperability between various communications networks. For developers, this will bring short development cycles and increased market opportunities. Service providers, operators and vendors will benefit from the rapid introduction of new technology, products and services as well as open standards maximising trafic and creating multiple revenue streams.