ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Rights Expression Language

Let's start with an example: imagine you have a toy that you love to play with, and you want to share it with your friends. But you also have some rules about how they can play with it - for example, they can't break it or take it home with them.

Now, imagine you are a big company that owns lots of things - like movies, music, or ebooks. You want to share those things with your customers, but you also want to make sure they follow some rules. For example, they might only be allowed to watch a movie on one device at a time, or they might not be allowed to share an ebook with other people.

That's where rights expression language (REL) comes in. It's like a set of rules that the company can use to describe how people can use their stuff. The company writes these rules in a code language that computers can understand.

So when you buy a movie or a song online, the REL code tells the computer how you are allowed to use it. Maybe you can watch it on one device at a time, or maybe you have to connect to the Internet to prove that you have permission to watch it.

This helps the company control how their stuff is used and make sure that people are following the rules. But it can also be a bit confusing for customers, because they might not understand why they have to do certain things to access their purchase.

Overall, REL is like a set of instructions that tell computers how people can use digital products. It can help companies protect their creations, but it can also be hard to understand for people who just want to enjoy the things they bought.