Digital Rights Management Questions
What is DRM?
DRM is a system that encrypts digital media content and limits access to only those people who have acquired a proper license to play the content.
[Microsofts DRM]
What is a License?
A license is the certificate that is issued to the user to give their computer the ability to play the selected media with predetermined restrictions. Each of those restrictions is known as a "right". Examples of a right would be the number of times a user is allowed to play the content or an experation date after which the content would no longer play. Collections of these rights are known as a "rule". Multiple rules can be assigned to a peice of content so that a user can choose which set of rights they would like for the license. An example of using multiple rules would be selling a license to a user and giving them the choice to pay $1.00 for the ability to view the content three times or $5.00 for the ability to view the content 20 times.
License Types
Silent - A silent license is a license that is issued automatically upon request. A silent license requires no interaction from the user and is least intrusive of all license types but still allows you to track usage of the content. [example]
Popup - A popup license is a license that is issued to a user after a webpage has been displayed to the user. The webpage can be any location and can have information passed to it in the form of a query string. [example]
Web Form - A web form license is a license that is issued after the user has completed some process on a website and has been approved to receive a license. The website can be hosted at any location and can contain as many pages as are necessary to complete the process. Examples of use for a web form license would be, validating usernames and passwords to an existing user list, or passing a transaction to a payment partner not integrated into the PlayaDRM system. [example]
Compact Form (MEMBERS AREA) - A compact form license is a license that is issued after the user has completed some process on a website and has been approved to receive a license. The website can be hosted at any location and can contain as many pages as are necessary to complete the process. Unlike the web form, a compact form does not open an additional window for the user to see. The compact form is contained within the initial display window. Examples of use for a compact form license would be, validating usernames and passwords to an existing user list, or gathering information such as email addresses from users. [example 1] [example 2] [example 3]
u: demo p: demopass
Paid - A paid license is a license that is issued to a user after they have been approved by a payment processor such as PayPal or Paycom. [example]
Changing License Types
You can change the license type for a piece of content at any time. For example, you can distribute a piece of content with a silent license type and later change it to a paid or other license type after the content has reach a critical mass of viewers.
http://www.playadrm.com/Site_Questions_DRM.asp