Digital Rights Management: The Next Step in Securing and Distributing Your Content

In today’s day and age, various types of content are the centerpiece of our everyday lives, but not all content is created equal. In cases like marketing and advertising material or social media posts, companies want their content viewed as many times as possible. If you’ve been on a social media site like Twitter or LinkedIn, you know how easy it is for someone to quickly share a post for the masses to see. With a single click, a user can download, upload, and redistribute content faster than ever before. While this globalization of content has pushed the world into a period of freely accessible information, there are immediate issues regarding the protection of certain content and, in turn, the protection of a company’s overall revenue. 

Publishers and content providers rely heavily on their intellectual property to drive their overall revenue, but most publishers’ IP is the very content they want to distribute and monetize. This poses a unique challenge and forces us to ask the question: How can we protect our content from unauthorized use without compromising the speed and quality of the distribution? 

While the answer may seem complicated, it begins with a modern Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution. Here at Minute Media, the team has taken the time to build our own in-house solution that works in tandem with the Voltax Video Player to help you feel confident your content is always safe and secure. 

What Is a DRM Solution?

A DRM solution is a piece of software that is built to help companies protect and control their valuable digital assets, whether it’s video, audio files, images, or important documents. By encrypting individual pieces of content before reaching the client, a DRM adds layers of security that an internal firewall or secure internet connection cannot provide. 

A DRM can only be effective if a content provider fully trusts the client where the content will be played. A client is considered to be any device capable of playing protected content (such as a media player on a PC or an application on your phone). In this case, companies can trust that Minute Media’s Voltax Video Player is programmed in such a way that it is able to enforce specific licensing rules to protect the integrity of the content. By combining our own technology with a third-party Multi-DRM provider we can ensure that your content is always under full control. 

Publishers and content providers who use Voltax Video’s platform can rest easy knowing that all of their digital assets are protected by multiple levels of security. Anyone using Voltax can now configure restriction templates within the VMS before applying them to individual videos or the entire import. Content can be restricted by geolocation, URL (type of client), or a specific date range. The team has ensured that partners have full control over their content at all times and that their content is secure on every major web browser. 

DRM Tech for Beginners (How it Works)

Protecting digital files in the past required certain operating system features or high-security, file-transport mechanisms that were slower, more expensive, and provided less overall security than a modern DRM solution. If a file is protected by Minute Media’s DRM, a license is required to access the content. The license is secured in a separate license server, which is the primary means of controlling the content. The license will only be delivered to the client if every specific authorization measure is met. 

Each license contains the rights and restrictions of the particular file, defining exactly how it can be used and under what conditions. There can be multiple licenses for a single file, and a user can only access the content as long as each of the license requirements is satisfied. For example, a video file may have one license requiring the client to be in Texas, a second license that only allows the content to be consumed between October 2020 and November 2020, and a third license dictating the video must be viewed on a mobile device. If all three situations are fulfilled, the user will be able to access and enjoy the video. If not, the license server will deny the client-side request and the content will remain protected. 

Within Minute Media’s Online Video Platform, customers can access the user interface and set the rights and restrictions for each piece of content to ensure it is only viewed by the intended user and the company’s revenue is maximized. 

Forging Ahead

The DRM solution is the latest step by our team in expanding our platform and continuing to improve our overall video technology offering. By implementing this technology into our video offering, it enables us to work with a larger range of partners, from publishers to content creators, who require more robust and customizable security for their content. 

If you have  detailed questions, feedback, or suggestions regarding the player, contact your account manager, or send an email to pubops@minutemedia.com