The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) believes that an ‘efficient digital rights management (DRM) system will give ‘a fillip to the fast-growing Indian digital entertainment and media industry’. For Indian companies looking to exploit content across new media, copyright issues are paramount, followed by technology issues like interoperability, and policy. DRM has its issues as well: there’s a cost involved for content distributors, and the fact that DRM protected content is limited to few devices, prevent users from buying legal content. A report released by FICCI with Pricewaterhouse Coopers also calls for ‘technology-agnostic, forward-looking and robust regulatory policies balanced with self-regulation and cross-industry agreements’. [via release]

So here’s what music and film labels need to understand about DRM and digital media: as a consumer, I like to own the music I buy. I like to copy it from one device to another, sometimes make copies just in case I lose the original, because I value what I’ve paid for. So if you give me ownership till perpetuity (how expensive is storage anyway?) - I’ll pay for it. I don’t want just one time rights to copy to a maximum of four devices. Secondly, I want freedom of choice - to buy exactly what I want - I don’t want to pay for a music album with 10 songs, when I want only three of those songs. Albums are passe. Thirdly, get the price right. CDs are cheaper to produce than audio tapes, and still at a premium. Online distribution even more so…so by that logic, the cheaper the media for production and distribution, the more you charge consumers? Rs. 20 per song purchased online is insane. The consumer has evolved…just that music and movie companies are yet to figure out a business model to monetize that opportunity.