What is Digital Rights Management (DRM)?
Introduction
Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a set of tools and techniques used to protect content from various user actions. Whether DRM is used to restrict editing, redistribution, or copying of content, it can be found anywhere copyrighted content is streamed or distributed. For example, most large streaming platforms use either Widevine or FairPlay to ensure that only authorized viewers can access protected content. Digital Rights Management protection can also be found in other popular forms of media like eBooks, software, video games, and even old DVDs.
The reality of DRM
Most modern platforms support a wide variety of protected media. However, due to the way most Digital Rights Management protections function, they require constant updating to ensure content protection. Due to the need for regular updates, DRM protection isn't available on devices without certified hardware, so content isn't available for older platforms. Older forms of DRM can also make it difficult or impossible to port older content to newer devices. DRM code can also become outdated and break over time, just like any other piece of code, rendering software that has been paid for useless.
How does DRM work? Where is it found?
The implementation of Digital Rights Management often boils down to a media "container" that holds an encrypted audio or video file. Data or content within a container can be encrypted using SHA256, or any future (more powerful) algorithms:
Digital Rights Management is usually implemented using a media container that holds an encrypted audio or video file. Data or content within a container can be encrypted using an algorithm, such as SHA256.
In the example above, DRM is used to protect locally available media. But DRM can also be applied for streaming. For example, Spotify streams DRM-protected music to end-user devices. Similarly, when users save music from Spotify onto their devices, the files are protected with DRM so they can't just be copied to other devices.
DRM is found in a variety of other media formats:
- Games
- Movies
- eBooks
DRM is also a broader term for content protection. Some modern game titles require an Internet connection for constant license checks. This blocks most users from sharing game files, since the protection would need to be reverse-engineered and then removed.
DRM has been used in specific cases to secretly “tag” content rather than protect it: companies can choose to tag confidential information or trade secrets, allowing for leaks or unauthorized access to be traced back to the source.
Conclusion
Most, if not all, modern content is distributed with DRM. Publishers can use Widevine, Apple FairPlay, Microsoft PlayReady, and more. DRM has a variety of use cases outside of direct media protection; it has been used to identify sources of leaks of trade secrets and confidential company information.
DRM is, in the end, a broader way to describe a form of protection and guidelines for how content can be used or distributed. There is no way around it; without reverse-engineering the encryption algorithms or finding flaws in the licensing chain, Digital Rights Management software is a growing industry that ensures the integrity and security of content worldwide.
