Trusted Computing & DRM - Home

Trusted computing and digital rights management are complementary technologies that are beginning to be deployed internationally. They are expected to become commonplace. Although they may offer benefits, they will also introduce potential risks to the integrity of government-held information. In 2006, a New Zealand government working group, established under the E-government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF), developed principles and policies regarding government use of these technologies to mitigate the risks. Government-wide principles and policies will ensure a common approach, and reduce the prospect of inconsistencies and interoperability issues.

Trusted Computing & Digital Rights Management Principles and Policies

The Principles and Policies document is designed to ensure that the use of trusted computing and digital rights management technologies does not adversely affect the integrity (including availability and confidentiality) of government-held information or related government systems. These principles and policies are suitable for use by other governments, as the policy statements do not include specific references to New Zealand laws. We believe that collaboration between governments is vital to ensure that these technologies develop in a way consistent with government requirements. By agreeing on a common set of principles and policies that reflect their requirements, governments can more effectively influence ICT product vendors to develop standards and features that will meet these requirements, e.g. a standard for disclosing the DRM restrictions associated with a computer file.

Governments, vendors and special interest groups wishing to collaborate with the New Zealand government on this matter, or simply to observe developments, are invited to contact the State Services Commission at tcdrm@e.govt.nz. We will add you to a mailing list for a regular newsletter advising progress on this project, and providing links to information packages tailored for governments, vendors and special interest groups. We will also contact you directly, if requested, to discuss how we can best work together.

The next steps include:

• development of standards and guidelines and other tools, to provide practical help to government agencies in implementing the principles and policies
• collaboration with other governments, special interest groups and ICT vendors to:

• monitor what other countries are doing with regard to TC/DRM and integrity of government information, and continue to share our work with them
• encourage widespread adoption of the principles and policies
• develop standards and features in TC/DRM products that provide the disclosure and control needed by governments to comply with the principles and policies

Trusted Computing Working Group

This section provides information on the work of the Trusted Computing Working Group.