Ministry of Innovation / Business of Technology

Japanese RIAA wants server-side music DRM for mobile phones

The Recording Industry Association of Japan—the Japanese version of the RIAA— …

Imagine the outrage that would occur if everyone's iPhones and BlackBerrys wouldn't let them play music until each song was authenticated on a DRM server as a legit purchase? Such a scenario could play out in Japan if the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) has its way—the organization is pushing for an agreement with music sites that could result in every phone checking with the cloud before playing the user's selections in an attempt to curb music piracy within the country.


RIAJ technical director Yoichiro Hata told FT that this would be possible because Japanese phone carriers control all the software on their handsets, enabling them to implement this kind of authentication without interference from other parties. However, the description of the system is noticeably lacking in details. In order for it to work, the RIAJ would have to come to an agreement with every music download site on the Internet that can be accessed in Japan, as well as every mobile operator (else users will just switch to another carrier). Will every single download site participate in such a scheme? It's hard to imagine that iTunes, for example, would get on board with extra authentication just for one country.

The other question, which was asked by Slashdot commenters, is how the system would handle songs that are legit but haven't been purchased from an online music store. This includes ripped CD tracks or songs that were released under a Creative Commons license, or any manner of other scenarios in which an MP3 might not authenticate against a DRM server. It's unclear whether these tracks would simply be skipped over or if the server would return a "do not play!" flag, preventing people from listening.

We have to wonder, too, whether the RIAJ has its head in the clouds with this effort to curb music piracy. Considering that all major music sites—at least in the US and most of Europe—have already exited the DRM game in favor for a more consumer-friendly DRM-free format. Such an agreement seems to be moving directly against that trend for little gain; instead of continuing to pour money into preventing users from sharing songs, music sites would benefit more from promoting their offerings with competitive prices and an extensive selection.

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