Toshiba has announced that it has developed a digital rights management (DRM) system that supports safe, secure distribution of digital book content - including music and visual images. Toshiba's DRM is the first to allow downloaded materials to be freely saved; and used on different media, including DVD, CD and flash memory. It also allows users to enjoy the same content on a wide range of different platforms.

An official release informs that a DRM system that achieves a high level of copyright protection while maximising content usability is essential for any system of digital content distribution. While the ease-of-use and immense cost-efficiency of such a system is clear, concerns about copy protection have forced digital content owners to completely avoid on-line distribution or to impose copy protection that limit the use of downloaded content.

However, these copy restrictions have discouraged user interest and slowed market growth. Toshiba's new SD-Card-based DRM system proposes an innovative solution that protects the rights of content owners while maximising the ability of users to freely use downloaded digital products on multiple platforms.

The release states that the essence of the system is an SD Card. This holds an encrypted key - a right to access - that opens separately delivered encrypted digital content. The key is securely delivered on-line and securely saved to the SD Card, and is used to open access to the encrypted digital content. For example, a digital book downloaded from the Internet can be seen on a PC; saved to a PDA; or copied to a removable memory; and so read on any portable equipment.

Toshiba's DRM system allows encrypted content to be freely copied, from medium to medium; but it can only be opened and accessed when used with the key. This system switches emphasis from possession of content to access. The content can be freely copied and distributed in any media - including CD and DVD - but its encryption cannot be broken and it cannot be accessed without the key. The key is also secure. It is encrypted in association with the unique ID given to the SD Card, and will not work if copied to another SD Card with a different ID.

Current on-line content distribution systems usually limit access to digital content to the device to which it is downloaded, typically a PC and PDA. Toshiba's solution expands it to any equipment. As a result, users with the key have full and fair use of the content, while the rights of the content owner are fully respected.

The ultimate advantage of Toshiba's DRM system is its support for super distribution. Content can be copied freely to and from diverse media and even passed from person to person in an encrypted form. However, users pay for it only when and if they want to access the content, the release informs.