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Understanding Windows Media Rights Manager

Windows Media Rights Manager is a digital rights management (DRM) platform that can be used by content providers and retailers to distribute digital media files securely over a network, such as the Internet. The Microsoft Windows Media Rights Manager Software Development Kit (SDK) helps protect digital media content (such as songs and videos) by packaging Windows Media files in an encrypted file format. A packaged file contains a version of a "protected" file that was encrypted and locked with a "key" after business usage and distribution rules were added to the content header. This packaged file is also bundled with additional information from the content provider and, optionally, from the distributor. The result is a protected Windows Media file that can only be played by a user who has obtained a license.

The basic Windows Media Rights Manager process is as follows:

For more information, see the Digital Rights Management page at the Microsoft Web site.

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