Which cloud-based multi-DRM service enables high performance content protection?

Recently, we’ve written several posts comparing the cost of technology and infrastructure, organizational implications, as well as total cost of ownership (TCO) when weighing the options of buying versus building a multi-DRM platform. If you review these posts, the conclusion is clear – building your own platform for securing your content is a costly and time-consuming undertaking that continues to consume your resources over its lifetime – scarce resources that could be better spent growing your streaming service. So in short, the answer is buy.

“Buying” in this case means subscribing to a multi-DRM service – one from an experienced and reliable vendor. The cloud-based ExpressPlay DRM™ service from Intertrust delivers the functionality needed to cover all the bases for securing an OTT video service of any size, and is designed to scale effortlessly with the service’s growth. One of the most widely deployed multi-DRM services in the world, ExpressPlay DRM provides full turnkey support to protect your valuable content.

Field-proven content protection at scale

For example, the ExpressPlay multi-DRM service scales effortlessly to over 25 million concurrent viewers for major live events as proven in India’s largest OTT sports platform.  Moreover, ExpressPlay is used by China’s largest OTT operator with more than 100 million paying subscribers and 500 million monthly active users, spending some 6 billion hours on its service each month, at a rate of 50,000 transactions per second. Premium content from Hollywood, European, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Indian studios is protected by ExpressPlay DRM.

Reliable global reach

ExpressPlay multi-DRM service achieves global reach with robust, highly scalable usage rates for live and on-demand content through tight integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Deployed in multiple AWS regions, Intertrust’s service leverages the cloud computing system’s ability to automatically route requests for fastest action per session, minimizing any streaming latency, with automatic failover across all regions to maximize uptime.

Covering the basics

As shown in the workflow diagram below, the platform covers the essentials of a multi-DRM service, providing device credentials, content key storage, content encryption, secure playback with multi-DRM license delivery, and real-time generation of audit reports regarding adherence to licensing terms. Through a few simple integration steps, distributors can implement robust rights management for virtually any service scenario without adding new infrastructure or incurring any of the setup costs that accompany in-house and on-premises builds.

Only from ExpressPlay DRM

Beyond the basics of a multi-DRM service, ExpressPlay provides several notable benefits not collectively available through other platforms, including:

• Supports all major DRMs, including the open-standard Marlin DRM, as well as Apple FairPlay Streaming, Google Widevine, Microsoft PlayReady, and Adobe Primetime/Access; native DRM client support extends across all major device and browser platforms.
• Takes full advantage of just-in-time packaging and new edge computing architectures as exemplified by global edge cloud platform provider Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY). The combined direct-to-consumer solution, incorporating ExpressPlay DRM with Fastly’s on-the-fly packaging (OTFP) service, means video service operators can now deploy a single copy of an asset—protected by the powerful fusing of ExpressPlay DRM and Fastly OTFP services—into MPEG-DASH or HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), with all of the standard codec and container formats delivered across multiple CDNs.
• Interoperates with AWS Media Services via the Secure Packager and Encoder Key Exchange (SPEKE) interface. Thanks to SPEKE, Intertrust can enable smooth interoperability with video processing and packaging offerings from AWS. This includes MediaPackage, a content delivery service that allows service providers to securely and reliably distribute streaming video at scale, as well as MediaConvert. This file-based content transcoding service with broadcast-grade features allows video service providers to easily create VOD content for broadcast and multi-screen delivery at scale. 
• Offers licensing options to protect content uses not directly related to streaming. Options include support for secure download, offline playback, and device-to-device side loading, as well as protection for content accessed in catch-up mode, especially in the case of live programming.
• Protects massive volumes of simultaneous live event streams, ideal for live sports coverage. Only ExpressPlay offers the proven scalability to more than 25 million concurrent viewers with 100 million activations in a single day.  
• Offers pre-integrated watermarking solutions from Friend MTS and ContentArmor, making it easy for distributors to adhere to the Enhanced Content Protection (ECP) specifications from MovieLabs that content owners are increasingly applying in the licensing of high-value content. 

The short answer: ExpressPlay multi-DRM service 

Taken all together, it is clear that buying a modern and comprehensive multi-DRM service such as ExpressPlay DRM cloud-service provides a future-proof and scalable solution for securing your content. As the market continues to evolve, the Intertrust technologists who co-developed Marlin continue their dedication to ensuring the ExpressPlay DRM remains a leading-edge content protection solution. Robust, global and cloud-based, with a success-oriented fee structure, the ExpressPlay DRM technology keeps customers best equipped to deal with the full range of requirements for protecting high-value video content – today and wherever the future takes us. 

Would you like to review your current and future content protection needs? If so, please contact our team for a no-obligation OTT security review, or feel free to download our e-book Securing advanced OTT video delivery with multi-DRM service.