License4Grid: Adopting DRM for Licensed Content in Grid Environments

Processing of licensed content with automatic compliance checking of the license terms is currently not supported in Grid environments. However, applications processing large amounts of data is a topic recently gaining more and more attention. The use of high performance computing capabilities, e.g., provided by Grid environments, is an obvious choice to speed up the processing time. Currently, most of the input data required in such Grid applications is freely accessible by standard Grid technology. However, many upcoming applications for Grid Computing require data provided under a specific license, also leading to license violations on a regular basis, because license compliance can currently not be validated. Data under a specific license is often retrieved from outside the Grid over individual portals directly from a content provider or distributor. Beside the additional efforts for user and security management, such external distribution approaches prevent an association between the license information and the content. In this work, the internal distribution approach for licensed content in Grid environments (License4Grid) is designed, maintaining the association between the license information and the corresponding data. The design respects the requirements emerging from handling either unprotected and protected content and makes use of the user and security mechanisms provided by common Grid technologies in order to fit into the environment homogeneously.