By by David St. John-Larkin edited by Jud Cary, Cable Television Laboratories, Inc
A Trusted Domain generally provides for the delivery, retention and utilization of copyrighted content within a secure residential network. This paper attempts to identify and to address some of the key legal issues of copyright law that are presented in a Trusted Domain in the abstract sense. An in-depth discussion of technical and business issues raised by Trusted Domains is beyond the scope of this paper. Contrary to those commentators who criticize trusted systems as parochial or limiting,1 the thesis of this paper is that the Trusted Domain can (1) preserve, if not increase, current copyright law privileges enjoyed by consumers, (2) assure content owners of a secure network and (3) provide distributors a new product offering. Ultimately, the Trusted Domain may serve as a model for the next generation of content related services that preserves the expectations of consumers, and protects the rights of copyright owners alike.