Sometimes the Simplest DRM Solutions are the Best

Today, there are a variety of mechanisms available to protect your streaming media content from being stolen. Some of these solutions require that plug-ins be installed on your streaming media server, and some of them require that you deliver your streaming media using a dedicated server with one-to-one connections. But the most common form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) is file-level DRM.

Using file-level DRM, streaming media creators and hosts have the ability to "lock once and deploy often" with a very simple and transparent architecture, which allows for more seamless integration within the enterprise. Surprisingly enough, file-level DRM applications are nearly invisible to their CDN or Web hosts and require minimal integration.

At the forefront of simple file-level DRM solutions is Microsoft. A few years ago, sensing a market need, Microsoft’s Digital Media division created a template by which Windows Media providers could protect and monetize their streaming media assets. Over time, this technology has evolved to become what it is now a robust, secure, and scaleable conditional access platform that you can make money with. Using the lock and key methodology that is built into the WMTRM SDK framework (Media Technologies Rights Manager Software Development Kit), DRM service providers are able to provide independent content creators, movie studios, record labels, or the marketing departments of Fortune 500 companies.

Using DRM to Sell Your Content Online
Here are five simple ways to use file-level DRM technology to make money for your business. All of these examples assume that you are using the DRM product from Microsoft—after all, the Windows Media player is the world’s most deployed streaming media technology in the enterprise; therefore, using it allows your content to reach the biggest audience possible.

1. Make a Buy-Page for Your Content.
A "buy-page" helps you to distill what pieces of your offering need to be completed. On this page, you can decide how you want to sell your content, whether it is the Pay-Per-View, Token, or Subscription model. You can choose to sell your full-length movies each month for $9.99, for example, or assign a value of $2 to each token and make each movie worth 4 tokens. If your content lends itself to being watched offline at the customer’s pace, then you can make it available on a pay-per-view basis at, say, $5 per view, for example.

2. Pick the Appropriate License Rules for Your Business Model.
Modern DRM is sophisticated stuff, and the license rules are varied. You can decide how many times you want your content viewed by the purchaser and for how long and on how many PCs, etc. You can combine a variety of these License Usage rules to make a "business rule" that replicates your vision of how you want to do business on the Web or that matches your current business processes.