The International DOI Foundation announces the launch of the web site for the MPEG-21 Rights Data Dictionary (RDD) -- formally, ISO/IEC 21000-6. This dictionary provides the basis for a resource to create widely understood, consistent meaning for Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and other systems requiring semantic interoperability of terms. The RDD is publicly available.

The RDD specification is intended to support the ISO MPEG Rights Expression Language and other systems requiring semantic interoperability. It provides a set of standard meanings to enable different communities to exchange precise information. Rights are complex and many metadata schemes are already in use; the deployment of an interoperable and standard dictionary provides a solution to cope with this real-world diversity. The MPEG RDD is a realisation of the concept of semantic interoperability evolved from the indecs (interoperability of data in e-commerce systems) project.

The International DOI Foundation was appointed by ISO/IEC JTC1 as the ISO/IEC 21000-6 Registration Authority, to maintain the Terms and TermSets that are:

• defined in the standard, ISO/IEC 21000-6; and
• additional terms that are registered in accordance with the standard through the ISO/IEC 21000-6 Registration Authority.

Operation of ISO/IEC 21000-6

The ISO/IEC 21000-6 Rights Data Dictionary is now available at the web site http://www.iso21000-6.net. This web site provides:

• Information about the operation and basis of the RDD
• Access to view the RDD
• Access to submit new Terms for mapping and registration in the Dictionary
• Information on management and governance of the RDD

Technical operations of the RDD are subcontracted to Rightscom Ltd, in accordance with the agreement between the International DOI Foundation and ISO/EC JTC1. Unique Term IDs will be allocated to each entry in the dictionary; these will be Digital Object Identifiers.

Governance of ISO/IEC 21000-6

The International DOI Foundation intends to widen the base of governance and support of the ISO/IEC 21000-6 for which it acts as Registration Authority. A Registration Authority Management Group is being created to help oversee the dictionary's operation. The RA Management Group will also provide a governance procedure for disputes, as required by ISO/IEC JTC1 directives. The IDF has invited representatives of key sector bodies and stakeholders to join this group; the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries and the Motion Picture Association will be included.

Relationship of ISO/IEC 21000-6 to other activities

The ISO/IEC 21000-6 dictionary is designed as a component of MPEG-21 to support the MPEG REL (Rights Expression Language), but is based on a generic methodology. The Registration Authority also intends to promote the adoption of ISO/IEC 21000-6 in other sectors and initiatives where similar requirements have been identified: in particular as the registry for metadata semantics for standard content identifiers.

The RDD embodies many useful generic concepts such as relators for typed links between identifiers; as the first public, and standard, implementation of the underlying methodology of semantic interoperability mapping through a contextual ontology there is great potential for use elsewhere, creating both economies of scale and critical mass of support. The most effective route to ensure such critical mass would be to promote the adoption of ISO/IEC 21000-6 as a solution for other initiatives which encounter the same problem of semantic interoperability.

The RDD is a structured ontology, in which meaning, once it has been defined, can be passed on from one term to another by logical rules of association such as inheritance and opposition. In recognition of the great diversity and complexity associated with multimedia content, it is designed to represent as many different specialisations of meaning as its users require, and to show their relationships in a structured way in order to support the mapping and transformation of terms between different schemas and systems.

About the Registration Authority

The International DOI Foundation is an open membership body which developed and is deploying the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a system for persistent identification and semantic interoperability of intellectual property in the digital environment. he DOI system uses the Handle System (http://www.handle.net) as a mechanism for internet resolution of identifiers, and the principles of semantic interoperability through contextual ontology mapping, as used in the RDD, for the definition of identifier referents. The DOI system is currently a work item of ISO TC46/SC9. (http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/technical_committees/list_of_is o_technical_committees/iso_technical_committee.htm?commid=48836 (Link updated: 8 September 2008))

The International DOI Foundation is one of the partners in CONTECS, a consortium of parties including trade bodies in the audiovisual sectors, which developed a successful methodology for semantic interoperability with the specific aim of responding to the MPEG requirement for a Rights Data Dictionary. CONTECS built on the work of the earlier indecs project (http://cordis.europa.eu/econtent/mmrcs/indecs.htm (Link updated: 8 September 2008)), in which The International DOI Foundation also participated.

For more information, please see:

• DOI News, April 2005, "IDF appointed as Registration Authority for MPEG Data Dictionary".
• "Identifier Interoperability: A report on two recent ISO activities", D-Lib Magazine, April 2006 [ doi:10.1045/april2006-paskin ].
• CONTECS:DD Press Release: "ISO Publication of the MPEG Rights Data Dictionary Standard, ISO/IEC 21000-6".
• INDECS project web site: http://cordis.europa.eu/econtent/mmrcs/indecs.htm.