Before it can be incorporated into media websites and applications, the digital rights management (DRM) technology that protects digital content from being used inappropriately by employing data encryption for DRM video protection must first be incorporated. This is a multi-step process that must be completed before it can be implemented. It is necessary for the video files to first go through the process of transcoding in order to be converted into forms that are compatible with streaming before they can be transferred to the user’s device. MPEG-DASH and HLS are the formats that are most commonly used for this purpose. Digital rights management (DRM) technologies such as PlayReady from Microsoft and Google’s Widevine support both conventional encryption (CENC) and MPEG-DASH. This reveals that the encrypted package can be decrypted using either of the DRM methods, indicating that both methods are viable options. In contrast, Apple’s FairPlay makes use of the SAMPLE-AES encryption standard as well as the HLS packaging standard. Because of this, the video asset will need additional encryption and packaging in order to be utilised across all three platforms. Using a multi-DRM service, which permits the simultaneous encoding of videos into MPEG-DASH with CENC encryption and HLS with SAMPLE-AES encryption in a single process, is the approach that is most commonly used to complete this work. This method is also the most frequent method. Because of this, the procedure runs considerably more smoothly.
Website owners who want to stream content using DRM video protection are required to generate an encryption key, an asset ID, and a key ID for every asset that is to be transmitted to the client in an encrypted format using DRM technology. This is done so that the content can be delivered to the client in a secure manner. This is a precondition for being able to stream the content. The data is encrypted using an AES key that has 128 bits for both FairPlay and CENC, although FairPlay further necessitates the use of an Initialization Vector (IV). CENC does not require an extra IV. Once the keys have been ingested into the licenced server, the client-side content decryption module, commonly known as CDM, is able to use them to decrypt the material using the client’s copy of the encryption algorithm. It is imperative that website proprietors always keep a backup of the keys that are utilised inside their content platform. In the event that there is a switch to a different licence server in the near future, this will make it possible for the keys to be retrieved rapidly. For the most part, streaming platforms keep both the licence server and the subscription server active in order to make DRM integration as easy as possible. While the subscription server is the one that assesses whether or not the viewer is authorised to see the content, the licencing server is the one that is responsible for authenticating the player’s identification and granting the licence.
After being packed by a multi-DRM server, the content is placed on a content delivery network (CDN), such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). From there, it is distributed to the end user by means of a convoluted workflow that involves the server of the multi-DRM vendor, the server of the DRM technology provider, the content delivery network (CDN), and the client device or browser. The CDM, which is present in all devices that are compatible with EME (Encrypted Media Extensions), is the component that is responsible for handling the decryption that is involved in the communication that takes place between the licencing server and the browser. It is also the component that is present in all devices that are compatible with EME (Encrypted Media Extensions). A method known as challenge-response is used to encrypt the chats in order to prevent the keys from getting into the wrong hands and so rendering them useless.
The video can then be played back on HTML5 players once the Content Delivery Manager (CDM) has validated the licencing key and decrypted the video asset blocks.
