Wardrobe Rights Management

There’s a serious problem in the American clothing industry today: shoplifting and counterfeiting.  Cheeky bastards stealing or copying clothing designs without any contribution to the designers who worked so hard to develop and market the original product.

But, thanks to modern technology, there is a solution in sight!  I call it Wardrobe Rights Management, and it is the future.

Wardrobe Rights Management, or WRM, refers to the licensed software and hardware technology that can be embedded into clothing and appliances that interact with clothing to verify that its owners are following legitimate usage protocols as defined by the individual garments’ licensing agreements.

The idea is simple: a small, biometric RFID tag embedded into each article of clothing.  The tag, combined with scanners in washing machines, dryers, entryways, and even public checkpoints and way-stations, can be used to identify the garment, the wearer, the relationship between them, and whether any illegitimate usage has been detected.

Clothing designers will now be open to offer a range of consumer-beneficial licensing agreements, with models such as:

• Unlimited use** (full cost)
• Home use only (reduced cost)
• One-time use (low cost)
• Pay-per-wash (micropayments)
• Loan to friends (small fee)
• Transfer license to a new owner (small fee)

** some exceptions apply, see contract for details

Clothing designers and manufacturers will simply need to register each model of garment with the Clothing Producers Association of America for a small fee, and obtain a unique Garment Unique Identifier for each article sold.

If we all band together, and tell our Congressmen that we want their help, I’m sure we can achieve these great advancements for society, and protect the poor clothing industry professionals from collapsing markets and rampant crime.