What is DRM? How protection works & DRM protected content

  Why is Digital Rights Management used?

Digital Rights Management is used to prevent unauthorized users accessing content and to control what authorized users can do with it.  It ensures the owner, author or publisher of a work can prevent piracy or illegal sharing, enforce their copyright, and exert controls that limit what a recipient is entitled to do with it.

  DRM in the Publishing Industry

Traditionally, in the print publishing industry, the author (or publisher) of a book asserts their right to be able to control what the purchaser can (or cannot) do after they purchase the work.  This typically takes the form of a copyright claim on the first page.

However, there has been a major power shift in publishing due to digital transformation.  Previously, copying and re-printing a physical book was non-trivial – if you wanted to steal someone else’s work you needed to find someone willing to publish the copy, and the publisher knew they would be sued without mercy.  There were some really obvious physical controls in the physical print industry that could not be overcome on a mass scale.

But the digital age has changed all that.  Suddenly, computers can make copies at near-zero cost, and do so without detection.  The rules of the ancient world no longer apply.  The use of websites to facilitate the sharing of pirated films, music, and PDF documents demonstrates that works that do not have digital rights management applied can be copied an unlimited number of times.  Files can be shared and transmitted without any control at all.  Even print documents are threatened, with users able to scan a document, turn it into a PDF, and distribute it digitally.

Content is the lifeline of the media and publishing industry.  Protecting this content is pivotal in safeguarding their revenue streams.  DRM software enables media and publishing companies to control access to and use of their content by implementing different content and user controls for different user groups.  This flexibility allows them to charge varying fees, such as lower fees for view-only access on a single device and higher premium fees for accessing content on multiple devices.  Publishing companies can ensure that ebooks and other materials can be locked to authorized devices, and cannot be illegally shared or distributed, copied, edited, printed or used beyond a certain time-frame.  Implementing DRM solutions empowers media and publishing firms to combat piracy, prevent unauthorized access, and monetize their revenue-generating content more effectively.

So, digital rights management is a critical feature if you are making confidential information available to others – whether it is a price list, a contract specification, an analyst’s report, a newsletter, or a book.  Without DRM, you have no way of preventing people who have access to your intellectual property from doing whatever they like with it.  DRM software lets authors and publishers exert more appropriate digital rights over content than they were able to in the physical print era.  This is why most publishers across various industries will use DRM to protect their intellectual property.

  DRM for Standards organizations

Standards organizations can safeguard their revenue-generating content by utilizing DRM (Digital Rights Management) software.  This enables them to protect their valuable documents by encrypting them and making them exclusive to authorized users who have paid for access.

One of the key features of DRM software is its ability to control content distribution.  By implementing digital rights restrictions (that prevent sharing, printing, and copying of materials), associations can ensure that only paying members or subscribers can access and view the content.  DRM prevents unauthorized distribution and protects an organization’s revenue streams.

Another important aspect of DRM software is the ability to automatically revoke access once a membership or subscription ends.  This ensures that individuals who are no longer current members or subscribers cannot continue to access the content, further safeguarding the organization’s revenue.

Furthermore, DRM solutions provide standards organizations with the flexibility to introduce multi-tiered subscription plans to maximize revenue.  For example, they can offer different levels of access based on the subscription package.  This could include lower-cost options with limited access, such as view-only access with no printing capabilities, and premium options that provide more extensive access privileges, including the ability to access content on multiple devices and unlimited printing.  By offering these premium options, organizations can upsell their existing members or subscribers and generate additional revenue.

In summary, DRM software is a crucial tool for standards organizations to protect their revenue-generating content.  It ensures that only authorized users have access to the materials, offers control over content distribution, enables access revocation, and allows for the introduction of multi-tiered subscription plans to optimize revenue.

  DRM for financial services institutions

Financial services institutions, including asset management companies, hedge funds, insurance companies, private equity firms, and other investment management organizations, have a crucial responsibility to safeguard the interests of their clients, shareholders, and themselves.  The ever-increasing number of data breaches highlights the relentless pursuit of unauthorized users to gain access to sensitive information.  Therefore, it is imperative for these institutions to adopt a robust DRM (Digital Rights Management) solution to protect their clients’ information effectively.

To truly protect clients’ information, traditional online solutions like secure data rooms, which primarily secure the access portals or platforms, fall short.  These solutions do not offer adequate protection as simple workarounds leave files vulnerable to unauthorized use or dissemination.  In contrast, an effective DRM solution that is not browser-based, ensures comprehensive protection for individual files or documents, regardless of their storage location or method.

By implementing a strong DRM solution, financial services institutions can mitigate the risks of reputational damage and financial losses resulting from unauthorized access or sharing of content.  Such a solution provides encryption and access control measures that prevent unauthorized users from accessing or using the files, even if they manage to acquire them.  By employing sophisticated encryption, permissions (restricting printing, copying, or modifying) and tranparent licensing technologies, DRM software installed on a device ensures that downloaded files remain protected and inaccessible to unauthorized individuals.

Moreover, a good DRM solution enables institutions to track and monitor file usage, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, and safeguard against internal breaches to further enhance data security.

By protecting clients’ information using an effective DRM solution, financial services institutions not only fulfil their fiduciary duty but also inspire trust among clients and shareholders.  Implementing the best DRM solution available minimizes the likelihood of content leakage or sharing with unauthorized parties.  Thus, financial institutions can be confident that their clients’ information remains confidential, safeguarding their reputation and bottom line.

In summary, by investing in a comprehensive DRM solution, financial services institutions can ensure the protection of individual files, regardless of where they are stored or saved, and mitigate the risks associated with data breaches.  This approach demonstrates a commitment to both their clients’ interests and regulatory compliance, strengthening the institution’s reputation and profitability.

  Market research and data intelligence companies

Market research and data intelligence companies can effectively safeguard their valuable intellectual property by implementing a comprehensive Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution.  Since digital information is easily shared and leaked, it is crucial to take proactive measures to protect the countless hours put into performing market research across various industry sectors such as commodities, oil and gas, medical, pharmaceutical, and technology.

By integrating DRM software, these companies can ensure that their reports, price sheets, forecasts, and other research materials are safeguarded from unauthorized distribution and access.  DRM technology provides a range of measures and controls to prevent unauthorized sharing, copying, editing, printing and accessing of valuable content without proper authorization or subscription.

One of the primary ways DRM protects market research intellectual property is through encryption.  By encrypting research files, it becomes significantly more challenging for unauthorized parties to access or use the content without the appropriate permissions or credentials.  Encryption helps in maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the research data, ensuring that it remains usable only by those who have the necessary rights.

Furthermore, DRM solutions provide robust access controls and user authentication mechanisms with locking of content to devices and locations.  This allows market research companies to limit access to their valuable content only to authorized individuals or subscribers.  By implementing device authentication, DRM software ensures that only those who have paid for the content or subscribed to the service can access and benefit from the research materials.

Another critical feature of DRM software is the ability to track and monitor the use of protected content.  With usage tracking, market research companies can gain insights into how their content is being utilized.  It is therefore especially important that the DRM system can lock use to devices so you can ensure that you are tracking a specific user rather than anyone with access who has access to the login credentials for an online system.

Implementing DRM software also enables market research companies to integrate dynamic digital watermarking.  Dynamic watermarking adds a unique identifier to each piece of content, making it easier to trace the source of any leaks or unauthorized distribution.  This serves as a deterrent and allows for swift identification and legal action against any party found to have violated the intellectual property rights.

In conclusion, market research and data intelligence companies can safeguard their valuable intellectual property by implementing a comprehensive DRM solution.  By utilizing encryption, access controls, device authentication, usage tracking, and dynamic watermarking, these companies can effectively protect their research materials from unauthorized distribution and ensure that their countless hours of hard work do not go to waste.  Implementing DRM is a critical step in safeguarding valuable research information, enforcing payment for content, and maintaining a competitive edge.

  Associations & Professional Training Organizations

Associations and professional training organizations often need to securely send documents and share training materials securely with their members and trainees, ensuring that only paid members are entitled to view materials.

DRM also provides associations and professional training organizations with additional benefits over content use, such as automatic expiry of old content, document tracking to see who has viewed and printed materials (assuming printing rights have been granted), and instant revocation of users and content.  Tracking, expiry and revocation can be all be enforced for documents downloaded to a device.

By utilizing DRM software, these organizations can easily protect their valuable teaching materials from unauthorized sharing and distribution, and integrate them with their existing association management systems or learning management systems.