TABLE OF CONTENTS The Internet is a public network and open to all. Owners of content who want to distribute over the Internet may want to restrict access to their intellectual property. It may be confidential corporate information, or it could be entertainment media sold through an e-commerce site. Unfortunately, content with value is also of interest to unauthorized users. It could be the piracy of digital entertainment: music, movies, or games. Some Internet piracy is in the domain of the lone hacker, who treats unauthorized access as a challenge. A bigger problem is piracy for commercial gain. Therefore, digital assets have to be wrapped securely to prevent access to all but authorized users that have been properly authenticated.
File security and digital rights management becomes more of an issue when content is delivered over the public Internet. If a system is deployed entirely within the corporate firewall the risks will be lower and easier to police.
Digital rights management offers systems that can control access and aid the successful monetization of streaming media. Like many other issues related to streaming, there are numerous choices to consider when buying a digital rights management system. In choosing a system, you will have to judge the level of threat; the more secure a system, the more it will cost. With increased security, authorized users will find it more difficult to access the required content. So there is a...
