The management of digital rights in Pay TV

Successful roll-out of Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions has the potential to transform the economics of pay television. This paper explains how a technology that is being developed as a potential solution to the challenge posed by the widespread theft of intellectual property (piracy) may ultimately support the development of new business models. These new business models could trigger a radical change in the sources of market power in the supply chain, increasing the bargaining power of content companies relative to vertically integrated platform operators. The paper examines some of the regulatory challenges that the new business models and the new technology rais