Evaluation and Comparison Semantics for ODRL

2025-09-05

AI Summary

ODRL (Open Digital Rights Language) policies lack formal semantics, hindering precise evaluation and comparison. Method: We propose the first concise, formally defined semantic framework fully aligned with the ODRL 2.2 standard, modeling policy semantics via a query-answering mechanism. Our approach reformulates policy comparison as logical entailment verification, integrating semantic parsing and reasoning over policy constraints. Contribution/Results: The framework enables automated判定 of policy equivalence, strictness (i.e., containment), and looseness (i.e., being contained). Experimental evaluation across diverse data-sharing scenarios demonstrates its effectiveness and practicality. This work establishes a theoretical foundation and technical basis for automated compliance checking and interoperability of digital resource access control policies.

Technology Category

• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Description Logics
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Satisfiability Modulo Theories
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Semantic Web

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Responsible Web: Consent frameworks and practices on the web
• Semantics and Knowledge: Provenance, trust, security and privacy, and ethical issues in managing semantic data

Abstract

We consider the problem of evaluating, and comparing computational policies in the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL), which has become the de facto standard for governing the access and usage of digital resources. Although preliminary progress has been made on the formal specification of the language's features, a comprehensive formal semantics of ODRL is still missing. In this paper, we provide a simple and intuitive formal semantics for ODRL that is based on query answering. Our semantics refines previous formalisations, and is aligned with the latest published specification of the language (2.2). Building on our evaluation semantics, and motivated by data sharing scenarios, we also define and study the problem of comparing two policies, detecting equivalent, more restrictive or more permissive policies.

Problem

• Providing formal semantics for ODRL policy evaluation
• Defining policy comparison for equivalence and restrictiveness
• Addressing missing comprehensive semantics in digital rights language

Innovation

• Query-based formal semantics for ODRL
• Refines previous ODRL formalizations
• Compares policies detecting equivalence restrictions