OT: DRM/video download protection ideas?

ken c wrote on 1/25/2009, 1:08 PM
Hi -

I'd like to create sites where people can download .wmv videos (for tutorials, a variety of topics), but I'd like to somehow protect them from people just ripping/posting on forums/vimeo/youtube/torrent sites...

Though yes I know a determined pirate can use camtasia etc to screen record something for redistribution, is there any decent way using DRM or other protection for downloadable videos? I'd prefer to not stream-only them, to save on bandwidth costs, eg have a download meter and let people download a single (protected) video they can play on a single computer... any low-cost ideas?

thx,

Ken

Comments

farss wrote on 1/25/2009, 3:40 PM
M$ seemed to have a suitable DRM solution built into WMV and WMP. The problem I struck was getting keys issued for it, you seemed forced to use a 3rd party for that and that was where I gave up. You might fare better if you persist, it just started to look all too hard.

Bob.
Xander wrote on 1/26/2009, 5:53 AM
This may seem a little archaic, but I have seen some sites Zip up the video file and use the password protect option of the zip file as a form of DRM. You only supply the password to paying customers.

The above avoids issues related to the DRM gatekeepers that Bob mentions.
Chienworks wrote on 1/26/2009, 9:55 AM
However, once that customer successfully unzips the download, the video file contained within has no protection.
ken c wrote on 1/26/2009, 12:38 PM
right ... and though I know it's a losing battle to fight piracy big picture, I'd at least like to make it difficult for casual people to do bittorrent/filesharing of my premium/for-pay video tutorials ... probably not worth the hassle, eg honest people will buy and the dishonest won't anyways ... but it would be nice to be able to have some decent IP-address specific type of protection or DRM protection on video content.... to keep casual people from posting to rapidshare/other file storage sites and/or torrents...

k
rs170a wrote on 1/26/2009, 5:19 PM
Vimeo has a lot of privacy options that may be worth looking into.

Mike
jrazz wrote on 1/26/2009, 7:50 PM
Take a look at this Ken.

j razz
TheHappyFriar wrote on 1/26/2009, 8:44 PM
not sure about what you're trying to sell, but many tutorials I like to put on to DVD so I can watch on the TV vs waste my monitor space.