Authena

Infobox Software
name = Authena



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genre = Digital rights management
license = GNU General Public License
website = http://authena.org/

Authena is an open source digital rights management (DRM) framework and implementation. The basic principle is that the "content creator" should have ultimate control over the restrictions applied to the content, as opposed to a middleman between the creator and consumer.

It is conjectured that Authena's open design and empowerment of the artist will make it more popular than traditional DRM schemes. Eventually, other DRM schemes will have to open up to compete.

It use the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Differences from commercial DRM systems

* It is open source, and is built upon open standards.
* Because the design is open, any program can be made to interoperate with protected content.
* It allows individual "artists", rather than publishers or corporations, to easily define the restrictions upon the use, modification and redistribution of the protected works.
* The consumer has a wider choice of possible "licenses" under which he can obtain content. If the content creator allows it, the consumer could even customize the license before receiving his copy. This is in marked contrast to conventional DRM systems where the license tends to be a standard form contract.

Potential disadvantages

* Rather than using coercion and obfuscation to compel users to obey restrictions, Authena relies upon the goodwill of its audience towards the authors of protected works. This may hurt the acceptance of Authena by some content creators. However, trusted computing may make it possible to enforce the restrictions in the future.

External links

* [http://authena.org/ Authena]