Archives NZ assume custodianship of TC/DRM standards

The State Services Commission (SSC) recently handed over the custodianship for the Trusted Computing and Digital Rights Management (TC/DRM) Standards and Guidelines to Archives New Zealand at a government record-keeping forum in Wellington on 5 March. The SSC will retain the policy.

In July 2007, the State Services Commission issued the standards on how to manage TC/DRM in the state sector to support principles and policies issued in 2006.

"We are taking over as custodian for the continued development and communication of the TC/DRM standards," Greg Goulding, Group Manager, Government Record-keeping, Archives New Zealand said. "I am pleased to accept custodianship of these standards and guidelines."

Hugh McPhail, the State Services Commission's Manager for E-government Strategy and Policy, said "the SSC believes that the standards and guidelines are a natural fit with the focus and experience of Archives New Zealand."

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 TC/DRM technologies to mitigate the risks. Government-wide principles and policies ensure a common approach, and reduce the prospect of inconsistencies and interoperability issues.

Trusted computing technology (TC) can be embedded in computer hardware to protect information from unauthorised use. Digital rights management (DRM) can regulate whether digital information can be viewed, printed, copied or modified, who can take these actions, and for how long. TC/DRM presents challenges and risks to government in the protection of the integrity of government-held information while also promising some advancement for the security and management of information.

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