Digital Rights Management
According to Arsenova (Technical aspects of Digital Tights Management) digital rights management (DRM) encompasses many technical functions for controlling accessibility. The major ones are summarized below.
DRM uses a cryptographic algorithm to encrypt content that needs a secret key - a particular phrase or string of numbers. Only the holder(s) of this key can unlock the content and read it. Often, a cryptographic system uses two keys -- a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. For example, when Joe wants to send a secure message to Ann, he uses Anne's public key to encrypt the message and then Anne uses her private key to decrypt it. A digital certificate connects a person's identity with his/her public cryptographic key. The digital signatures are issued by certificate authorities that guarantee that a public key belongs to the person whose name is in the certificate.
Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security are cryptographic communication protocols for secure communications on the Internet. These protocols allow client/server applications to communicate in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering and message forgery. IPsec is a standard that provides security at the network layer by encrypting and/or authenticating IP packets.
Watermarking, Fingerprinting and Access control are other important DRM techniques. Watermarking is the process of embedding information into a data source in such a way its existence is hidden. It essentially serves as a copyright stamp. Another method to protect digital media is to fingerprint each copy with the purchaser's information. Thus, if the purchaser makes illegitimate copies, they will contain his or her name. Access control attempts to find ways for limiting the access to copyrighted material and/or inhibiting the copy process itself. Examples of copy protection include encrypted digital TV broadcast, access controls to copyrighted software through the use of license servers and technical copy protection mechanisms on the media.
Bibliography
Arsenova, E. Technical aspects of Digital Tights Management. http://wob.iai.uni-bonn.de/Wob/images/01212504.pdf
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