The work described here began with an investigation of the ability of current and evolving
information technology tools for rights management (e.g., frameworks, markup languages, metadata
models and standards) to support the unique needs of indigenous communities. We found that
initiatives such as MPEG-21 (Multimedia Delivery Framework) [7] and XrML [8] are primarily
concerned with e-commerce and protecting the commercial rights of content owners. They are built
on the premise of modern intellectual property law regimes and the notions of individual property
ownership for a limited duration, which are alien and detrimental to indigenous cultures. MPEG-21
and XrML do not support the specific requirements expressed by indigenous communities which are
needed to protect indigenous knowledge or enforce tribal customary laws.
In an earlier paper [9], specific extensions to XrML, in the form of customary constraints, were
developed to support the description of customary or traditional laws which commonly affect access.
An analysis of tribal laws across Aboriginal and Native American communities revealed that the
following common factors or variables which may determine access to traditional knowledge: