Digital Rights Management and the Bottom Line - ' Fighting Back '
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Fighting Back
Businesses are using new content controls not only to curb theft but also to save money, boost productivity and plump up the bottom line. Here's how:
BOOST REVENUES
company | Congressional Quarterly Inc.
challenge | Washington, D.C.-based publisher of government news and analysis sought to stop unauthorized sharing of its subscription-only CQ Daily Monitor.
solution | Web-based delivery with user-access controls has enabled CQ to increase subscriptions by 7 percent and reduce unauthorized copying by 5 percent to 10 percent.
INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
company | Electronic Arts, Inc.
challenge | The $1.7 billion game software developer was reluctant to do more in-house collaboration online thanks to employee piracy concerns.
solution | Software that wraps game designs in an encryption envelope helps EA boost online collaboration, speeding time to market.
CUT COSTS
company | Simmons & Co. International
challenge | This small financial services firm sought to cut publication costs by moving to more distribution via the Web, but worried about security.
solution | Tracking software lets Simmons know who is using its products—enabling it to determine unauthorized use and identify potential new customers in order to boost revenues. Side benefit: a reduction of $150,000 this year in paper publication costs, now that execs feel more comfortable increasing digital distribution of corporate research.
EXPAND MARKETS
company | Vetstream, Ltd.
challenge | The U.K.-based animal medical research firm needed an inexpensive way to boost revenues, chiefly by targeting distribution of its subscription-only reports to the more than 17,000 veterinarians in the U.S.
solution | Software that provides access only to licensed users has enabled the company to sell online subscriptions, which Vetstream hopes will boost revenues five-fold.
STREAMLINE PRODUCTION
company | Simon & Schuster
challenge | Book jacket, author photos and sales data for each book were scattered all over the company in paper files and on zip drives.
solution | A new "digital asset library" centralizes data and stipulates terms of use, enabling easy access and faster book production. Fewer employees are now needed to retrieve data on demand.
CURB THEFT
company | Off Wall Street Consulting Group
challenge | This publisher of buy/sell recommendations for professional money managers had trouble controlling access to its $50,000-per-year-and-up, subscription-only reports. Faxed delivery led to frequent copying by analysts and data leaks that would affect share prices.
solution | Encrypted Inter-net delivery and post-delivery controls like automatic watermarking cut leaks and resulted in a 20 percent hike in subscriptions in 2001.
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