[Odrl-version2] RE: ODRL-Version2 Digest, Vol 7, Issue 2

[Vicky Weissman]

Hi Renato,

Thanks for the clarifications :-)  From them, I've drawn the following
conclusions, which may or may not be right.  Please let me know if I'm on the
wrong track.  

The first observation is that the flags in ODRL are used to state
``agreements'' (in the English sense) that cannot be written in ODRL.  More
specifically, agreements written in a natural language between assigners and
assignees often give the permissions and obligations of both parties.  This
could include the statement that the assigner is not permitted to give anyone
but the assignee a particular right (e.g., distribution rights).  Since ODRL
agreements discuss only the permissions and obligations of the assignee(s),
we need a flag to capture the common ``agreement'' that binds assigners.
Similarly, because each agreement mentions only one asset, we need a flag to
capture the portion of an ``agreement'' that says `if an assignee a may do an
action c to an asset s, then a may do c to every subpart of s'.
(Alternatively, we can fix the language so that this statement is implicit.)
I suspect that a better solution would be to extend ODRL so that the flags,
which feel like hacks, are unnecessary, even though they might still be
included for ease of use.

The second observation is that ODRL draws a somewhat jagged line between what
is `covered' in the language and what is external to it.  For example,
negotiations between a perspective assigner and a perspective assignee can be
captured in ODRL through offers and requests.  But the consequences of
violating policies are outside ODRL's scope, as are the agreements between
assigners (e.g., agreements about which owner can create agreements governing
access in Asia).  I don't have a good intuition for why the line should be
drawn where it is being drawn.  

As an aside (and I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but), it seems
like offers and requests are just partial agreements.  There's one type of
Rights entity, namely an agreement, and people can write partial agreements
to advertise possible agreements, request an agreement with certain features,
serve as a template, etc.

<V1> "... how do we determine what's allowed/forbidden by a set of
agreements? "
<R1>
This is a good question and always asked for ODRL...I will ask a few more
"logicians" to see if there is a practical answer.
<V2>
Do you want me to take a stab at this?  (I wouldn't be able to do a formal
write-up anytime soon, but could give some options with pros/cons.)  

Best,
Vicky