What is Digital Rights Management (DRM) and how does it protect your videos?

Digital Rights Management works by encrypting a file – essentially scrambling its contents to make it unreadable. Current DRM technology typically uses 128-bit AES encryption, which is considered unbreakable on today’s computers. While the encrypted file can still be made available to the wrong user – such as a rogue staff member at a distribution partner – its contents cannot be accessed. In other words, it is worthless without the tools and information to decrypt (unscramble) it.

What is Digital Rights Management?

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the use of technology to control and manage access to copyrighted material. Another meaning of DRM is to take control of digital content away from the person who owns it and give it to a computer program. the purpose of DRM is to protect the rights of copyright holders and prevent unauthorized distribution and modification of content.

DRM has become increasingly important as digital content is distributed through peer-to-peer file exchange, torrent sites and online piracy. It helps entertainment and media companies protect themselves from cybersecurity challenges faced by all organizations, such as protecting customer data, ensuring and demonstrating compliance, improving operational efficiency, and preventing downtime.

How does DRM work?

This enables content creators and copyright owners to.

  1. prevent or restrict users from editing or saving, sharing or forwarding, printing, or taking screenshots or screenshots of their content or products
  2. set an expiration date on the media beyond which users cannot access it, or limit the number of times users can access it
  3. restrict access to media to specific devices, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or locations, such as limiting content to only those in the United States
  4. Watermarking files and images to prove ownership and identity of content.

In order for DRM to work, users need to have players that can identify protected content and request an unlock key. And the rights holder needs to operate a license server that responds to legitimate requests with a key that can unlock the encryption.

Seamless and unobtrusive

Assuming, of course, that they have a license. Unauthorized users, or those who cannot be authenticated by the license server, can only see scrambled and useless content, helping to protect valuable IP security.

Content protection is not foolproof, and it is always possible for pirates to defeat one or more controls. To prevent this, rights holders can use other technologies, such as forensic watermarking, to help track down pirated content and those who copy or share it. Such services often add imperceptibly unique signatures to legally acquired content, ensuring that its source can be traced in the case of illegal copying.

Summary
Do you want to protect your content from being distributed on the Internet? Discover for yourself how XMediaDRM‘s suite of powerful security technologies can help protect and preserve your valuable media assets. Book a demo today?