Protected by drm. Reset and view DRM information on Android

In the era of digital content, the issue of licenses for produced copyright material is especially relevant. Huge sums are spent to combat pirated resources and downloading materials from torrents.

DRM license - what is it?

DRM license is a technology that is designed to protect copyright holders from unauthorized use of content. The DRM license is translated into Russian as “digital rights management.” With its help, access to a product that has already been sold is controlled, which allows you to protect materials (movies, TV series, music, books, etc...) from copying and distribution in the future.

The digital key is embedded in the DRM license. It works this way: initially Digital Rights Management encrypts the content, and after purchase the materials are decrypted.

A DRM license, like most programs, has several options for use, which differ in the period of use, the number of starts and other functions. When the license expires, the content is encrypted again and access is purchased again using a new DRM key.

A DRM license has advantages and disadvantages, like any digital product. The main disadvantage can be called too strict control over the digital product, which in some cases simply interferes or makes it impossible to use purchased materials, because conditions for using digital content do not take into account a variety of life situations. In addition, at this stage, the DRM license is contrary to the laws of various countries.

Resetting DRM licenses

Resetting Android DRM licenses and what it is, users are wondering. If this tool is imperfect, sometimes it needs to be disabled for the gadget to fully function.

DRM licenses are reset using hacker programs. Utilities allow you to reset the DRM counter, cancel resource binding, or cancel the password prompt.

Resetting DRM licenses on the Android operating system:

1. Open the "Settings" section
2. Find the line "Backup and reset"
3. Reset the DRM license by clicking on “DRMreset”

What happens if you remove the DRM license? Access to the product covered by the license will be blocked. The method is suitable for exceptional cases, for example when selling a smartphone.

How to remove DRM licenses from various formats can be found on the Internet; there are plenty of ways, each suitable for specific cases. For example, by burning WMV to a CD, WMA to a DVD, and then copying them again to a computer, DRM protection will disappear. You can use Sound Taxi, DRM Removal, Note Burner and others, the operating principle of most of which is based on converting formats.

The worldwide mass distribution of DRM licenses was not received due to the fact that the technology is unfinished and its use is impossible in a number of cases. The DRM license in the old format is gradually being abandoned. In general, I advise you to use only legal content whenever possible.

Reset DRM:

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is translated into Russian as “ Digital Rights Management" Digital Rights Management technology protects the device from piracy, and also monitors access and distribution of works belonging to copyright holders. This system is like a lock that prevents the user from copying or selling any product. Perhaps highly skilled hackers can hack Digital Rights Management technology, but the average user is unlikely to be able to do this. When launched, protected content may display a number of messages similar to “the file is protected using drm technology.”

What functions does it perform?

The DRM system does not allow the user to illegally distribute, copy, transfer and convert copyrighted products into other formats. This is all possible thanks to its functionality, which includes work limitation with content using special strings, in particular the impossibility of complete copying and remote deletion of a file on the device.

But the technology also has its drawbacks. For example, restrictions on the use of information (any copying is impossible) and the likelihood unstable and unreliable work programs with this protection. In addition, the functionality of the technology in some way contradicts the legislation of some countries of the world, for example, Australia.

It is worth noting that the concept of DRM-free is often found on the Internet. It stands for, literally, as “without DRM”. These are games, applications without protection, and even a certain movement that is trying to resist the widespread licensing of DRM.

In what cases is DRM used?

You can encounter the work of Digital Rights Management protection in the following cases:

• during playback specific file system displays a query to enter a password, identifier or a unique letter;
• launching the required file is possible only in a specific program;
• a certain program starts working only on a separate device, for example, on a PC, music center, etc.;
• The DRM license is noticeably restrictive number of copies protected file.

DRM license - what is it?

A DRM license is a digital key that is used to decrypt encrypted content. In addition, such a license itself gives the right to use this product. It is possible to obtain such a key only after payment.

In addition, there are partial licenses, which provide a trial period and have limited functionality. For example, it is carried out limited quantity program launches and temporary access to it. At the end trial period use, the application is blocked and you are prompted to purchase the full version.

How to reset a license

The consequences of resetting the DRM depend on the content covered by the license. Resetting DRM licenses will mean that the user abandons the purchased software. For example, using illegal software, you can completely disable the application startup counter. In addition, certain utilities give possibility to break the connection specific files and site, disable the need to check the license ( digital key) and so on.

For an Android mobile device, you can reset the DRM license without using any third-party programs. To do this you need:

This feature should be used with extreme caution, especially if the user is not informed of the consequences. In the event of an incorrect reset or operation with this function, it may result in the user will lose access to some functions and programs in the device memory. In addition, some proprietary programs on Samsung phones and Sony may simply cease to function. But in general, the operation and personalization of the device will not change in any way.

Worth noting that a normal factory reset in the "Backup and Reset" section will not remove the license.

How to remove DRM protection

Currently, many Android users are complaining to developers about the inconvenience of using digital license. But even despite this, it is still actively used in mobile applications and multimedia. Let's talk about some ways to remove this technology protection from various types files:

• the use of specialized utilities (DRM Removal) that will allow you to bypass and deactivate the protection;
• the use of converters that convert protected files(Note Burner, Sound Taxi). They apply only to certain extensions, but allow you to get a completely clean file;
• use of various CDs and DVD discs. Files with the WMV or WMA extension can simply be rewritten to disks and the protection will be removed from them.

The topic of DRM (Digital Rights Management) continues to remain quite far from Russian realities. A few semi-legal domestic online stores sell their content without any protection.

One of the few Russian online stores practicingDRM, AllOfMP3, works mainly for export

However, the prospects for the country’s accession to the WTO, which have been talked about so much over the past year, have forced the state to pay attention, albeit mostly in words for now, to the problem of copyright protection for digital products. Therefore, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with these issues in more detail.

This topic is very broad and touches on many moral and legal issues. In this material, we strive to consider it exclusively as applied to portable digital audio players.

The need to protect content from unfair use became obvious back in the “analog” era. However, it was only with the advent of digital formats, which made the ability to create an exact copy of the source material widely available, that this problem acquired its current severity.

Anti-piracy campaigning in the analogue and digital era. On the left is a poster of the association from the 80sBPI(British Phonographic Industry), directed against home copying music on audio cassettes. On right - modern work English RARIO7, directed againstP2 P-networks

Large record labels and film studios have had a tight grip on virtually the entire audio and video market for decades. For a musician, composer, actor, director, there was only one way to reach a mass listener or viewer, and this path lay through signing a contract with one of the large companies in the relevant field.

Major record companies (top): Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group; largest film studios (bottom): 20th Century-Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal Studios,SonyPictures

Since the number of candidates for “stars” of music or cinema has always been very, very large, record companies and film studios had the opportunity to dictate their terms. As a result, the lion's share of the profits ended up in their pockets. This situation, naturally, more than suited these companies, and the performers, in general, were not offended. Consumers simply had no choice.

These figures show why record companies were reluctant to change anything

The situation began to change dramatically in the second half of the 90s, when a fundamentally new method of content delivery - the Internet - began to become widespread. Being uncontrolled by commercial organizations, it potentially gave residents everything globe complete freedom of exchange of any data.

The only limitation at that time was the low channel capacity. Audio and, especially, video in digital form took up too much space to be practical for transmitting them over the Internet. This problem was quickly solved with new lossy compression technologies that provide high quality at reasonable file sizes. In 1995, the MP3 format was introduced and quickly became the number one format for sharing music over the Internet. In subsequent years, the MPEG4 format and its variants, DIVX and XVID, appeared, solving this problem for video.

Popular “free” formats on the Internet

The spread of the Internet and its use for exchanging compressed digital music and video came from below, by ordinary users and their non-profit community associations. This turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise for record companies and film studios: although belatedly, they saw the Internet as a potential replacement for the music and video distribution system they controlled. Banning the Internet as a whole, or at least the transmission of audio and video content through it, was clearly impossible, although such conversations were also held. Without the ability to shut down a new competing channel for delivering music and video to consumers, content providers have focused their efforts on taking control of it.

Record labels show graphs eloquently demonstrating the decline of the traditional media market

The goal of the recording industry and film studios was to transform the Internet into the same channel under their control for distributing content as the distribution of music and video on media. But to achieve this, major changes had to be made to existing data technologies. The various technologies and techniques with which content providers have been trying to achieve this goal for about eight years can be called “DRM”.

What does the industry think distribution of digital content over the Internet should look like? Ideally, record labels and film studios would like to see something like this:

• Digital content must have the same restrictions as physical media. That is, it should not be possible to copy it while preserving the original.
• All content should be divided into “clean” and “impure”. Players should only play “clean”, i.e. content created by content provider companies and legally purchased content.

Historically, the computer and Internet space is technically completely unsuited to such strict restrictions. When the foundations of the architecture of modern PCs and the Internet were laid, little thought was given to copyright protection. As a result, most standards and protocols that were widely adopted allowed information to be stored and copied without any restrictions. To accomplish such a technically complex task as introducing tight restrictions into their existing incredibly extensive infrastructure, record labels and film studios needed help from both the computer and consumer electronics industries. At first glance, it may not be clear what could force software, audio and video equipment companies to impose such serious restrictions on their consumers. However, content providers have some means of pressure: the stick in the form of threats of lawsuits, and the carrot in the form of sharing profits from the sale of music and video. The latter proved to be more effective.

One should not think that the consumer is completely alone and defenseless in the face of such a coalition. The greed of content providers in most countries is limited by the so-called “Fair Use” clause of legally acquired audio and video products. In principle, this concept is part of American law, but since the United States is the largest market for both content and consumer electronics, Fair Use has to be taken into account by industries around the world. According to these provisions, the buyer has every right to make copies of his music and films for personal use.

In 1984, it was the provision onFairUsewas used in court to legalize home video recordings (caseUniversalStudiosagainstSony, also known as "caseBetamax»)

Thus, it is impossible to completely deprive the user of the ability to copy content. The Fair Use clause is a constant headache for all DRM scheme creators because... creating a universal mechanism that can distinguish “honest” copying from “dishonest” copying is impossible in principle. Limits on the number of copies are typically used, although the legality of these limits has been questioned.

The second consequence of the Fair Use provision is the legal purity of audio and video files obtained by copying content from a legally purchased medium - CD or DVD - to a computer. This puts an end to the industry's efforts to outlaw all non-DRM content.

Thus, the industry has to come to terms with the existing reality: the user has the right to own and play unprotected DRM files, and can freely copy them. At the same time, developers of DRM technologies are caught between two fires: on the one hand, the appetites of record companies, film studios and associated software, computer and electronics manufacturers, on the other, the legally protected rights of users. It is not surprising that so far it has not been possible to create a single DRM system that would not receive tons of criticism from all sides.

US residents should remember one more law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This act protects the right of producers to protect their content and prosecutes attempts to break such protection. Therefore, copying an unprotected audio CD onto a computer is considered "fair use" in the United States, but copying a DVD that has such protection is a crime. Fortunately, such laws have not yet become widespread around the world.

DMCAsomewhat weakened the protection of the rights of Americans that the provision providedFairUse

Why have DRM issues become so tightly linked to portable digital players? The answer is simple: it is in them that the compressed digital formats were in first demand. While on stationary equipment the consumer still continues to listen to the good old CDs without irritating the industry, in the portable sphere he decisively chooses flash memory and hard disks along with MP3 format. It was the advent of the first MP3 players that took the issue into a serious direction: compressed digital content from the computers of a small number of “geeks” and “nerds” came to mass consumer electronics.

The appearance of the Diamond Rio PMP300 MP3 player at the end of 1998 was marked by two facts. The first is the resounding success of the device and huge sales during the Christmas season for those times. The second was the defeat of the American Recording Association in court - the US judicial system refused to outlaw MP3 players and the MP3 format.

Gift wrapRioPMP300 during the 1998 Christmas season

It became clear that the genie could no longer be put back into the bottle. From this moment, serious work began on creating effective DRM mechanisms, which continues to this day.

The concept of modern DRM

In general, the concept of modern DRM schemes is as follows. The purpose of DRM is to prevent copyrighted content from being copied illegally, while not limiting its "fair use" whenever possible. The architecture of modern PCs is such that any limitation on the actual process of copying information is impossible.

Therefore, the only way to combat illegal copying is to limit the ability to reproduce illegally copied content. This is the basis of modern DRM - make it impossible to reproduce protected content on all “illegal”, that is, unauthorized, not belonging to the owner content devices, be they players or computers.

To achieve this goal, two types of technologies are used - watermarking and encoding.

The essence of watermarking technology is to introduce certain changes into the content - a digital audio file - that would not affect its sound in any way, but could be detected by both computer programs and playing devices. Having detected a watermark, the playback device must verify the “purity” of the file, for example, whether any license for it is stored in the database. Watermarks proved to be quite unreliable; in addition, they required replacing the entire fleet of playing equipment and software with samples that supported this technology, which was a utopia.

Digital watermarks have found their main application in protecting digital images (an example of the use of technology from the site www.sagesecure.com)

Encoding technology has proven to be more viable; most modern DRM schemes use it. It involves encrypting all content with a fairly powerful cipher. When sold, the encrypted content is sent to the buyer along with the key needed for decoding.

Developers of DRM schemes go to various lengths to prevent a rogue buyer from starting to distribute the purchased content along with the key. They try to hide the very existence of the key from him, transferring it secretly, storing it on the computer in a hidden form.

There are two ways to deliver the key to the consumer: together with the content or separately. Separate delivery is considered more reliable, but requires a more complex infrastructure, a separate system for storing keys and transferring them to the user upon authorized request.

Modern DRM schemes, as a rule, encrypt the key too, linking it individually to each computer, so that it is not possible to open the file from another PC or write it to the player. This goes against the concept of Fair Use, since a user can have several computers and laptops. Therefore, DRM schemes usually allow limited copying, either a certain number of times or on a certain number of computers. Although Fair Use does not stipulate a maximum number of copies for personal use, legislators have so far turned a blind eye to such restrictions.

The desire to limit the user's ability to use content led to the emergence of the concept of user "rights". This is a seller-defined set of rules and restrictions on the use of content. Actually, it is this concept that DRM owes its name: Digital Rights Management - digital content rights management. The very essence of DRM is that each computer file containing a work of authorship - music, video, text, computer code - corresponds to the user rights defined by the creator or owner: what he can and cannot do with it. An example of using this scheme is Subscription. A subscription provides monthly payments to the content provider in exchange for unlimited downloads of content from its catalog. IN in this case The user's "rights" include a one-month limitation on the content's lifespan and are renewed monthly upon payment. If you miss a payment, the content will self-destruct.

The history of DRM can be divided into two stages. The first of them, from 1998 to 2001, was initiated by record companies concerned about the uncontrolled distribution of music via the Internet. During it, these companies, together with leading players in the electronics industry and consumer electronics, tried to create mechanisms to limit the free copying of content. This stage ended in nothing.

The second stage began in 2003 and continues to this day. It was marked by the fact that leading IT companies drew conclusions from the first stage and took development into their own hands. As a result, several viable DRM schemes were created that are widely used today.

SDMI

During the heyday of this organization, its members included up to two hundred companies, including associations of audio content producers, major recording companies, software manufacturers, hardware solutions developers, and consumer electronics manufacturers. They all came together at the end of 1998 to “save” music from uncontrolled copying. Their goal was to develop digital content distribution technologies that would provide reliable protection for copyright holders.

This logo was supposed to mark certifiedSDMIdevices

The key technology SDMI relied on was watermarking. “Watermarks” were supposed to be used in two types: persistent and unstable. Persistent watermarks had to be preserved even with serious file transformations: compression, transcoding from digital to analog and vice versa, adding noise. The structure of unstable signs was disrupted during such transformations. Persistent watermarks have been used to indicate that this file protected by SDMI technology, unstable - that it has not been modified or converted in any way by the user. Using watermarks, end devices were required to distinguish protected SDMI files from unprotected ones, as well as corrupted SDMI files from uncorrupted ones.

As you can see, the company in SDMI was quite diverse, and the interests of its participants did not coincide in many ways. Therefore, the standards and specifications developed by the organization were children of compromises. The electronics industry giants did not want to produce players that were not capable of playing already common audio formats. Therefore, the creators of SDMI DRM faced the difficult task of introducing a protection mechanism into existing model use of unprotected audio files. It was assumed that users would smoothly switch to SDMI content, since nothing else would simply be produced.

The SDMI implementation process was divided into two stages. In the beginning, certified players had to play everything. The second stage was supposed to begin blocking “illegal” content. There has been no definitive consensus on what should be considered “illegal” content.

The result of a survey of industry experts by MusicDish agency

The SDMI concept generally had many weaknesses. The main purpose of the standards was to protect CDs from copying content from them with subsequent illegal distribution. The project participants had no idea what to do with the millions of unprotected MP3 files already existing on the Internet. For electronics manufacturers not to support them meant losing the market. And to support means to indulge piracy, the record companies did not agree with this. This caused a split in the already not very orderly ranks of the association.

In addition, the use of watermarks has shown its inconsistency as a security method. In 2000, the association published an open letter urging anyone to hack their watermark-based security system. Those who responded to the challenge took part in a competition in which they were tasked with removing watermarks from a protected SDMI audio file within a limited time. The results for SDMI were discouraging: the watermarks were successfully removed, and furthermore, it was demonstrated that watermarking technology of any complexity would inevitably be broken in real-world commercial applications.

Scheme of the task for participants in the SDMI competition to hack its technology (from materials from the Princeton team)

This failure deepened divisions among SDMI members. Compromises between record companies and manufacturers of software and hardware solutions were becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, three years of work ended in nothing; the second stage of SDMI implementation never came. The participants parted dissatisfied with each other.

From this point on, the record companies completely lost control of the online content market. Having failed to make concessions during the work of SDMI computer industry, they were taken out of the game: without the help of IT corporations and their technologies, they were unable to create and implement any DRM scheme.

IT companies, on the contrary, learned from the unsuccessful experience of SDMI and took up the matter on their own. They will create future DRM schemes exclusively for their needs and will achieve much greater success in this.

Today there are few reminders of SDMI and its developments. Sony's DRM, Open MagicGate, is based on the SDMI specifications. A living monument to the organization are SD memory cards (Secure Digital Cards, “secure digital cards”). Back in 1999, Matsushita, Toshiba and Sandisk did not see a future for the new memory card format apart from SDMI.

Modern memory cards remember the deceasedSDMI: abbreviationSecureDigital, technologyMagicGatefromSony, designed to specificationsSDMI

SDMI's activities did have one important consequence, although not what the organization's participants expected. During the period of its activity, the world's major manufacturers of consumer electronics - Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba, Casio, JVC, Pioneer, Sharp - either refrained from promoting digital audio players until the specifications were finalized, or released products with SDMI restrictions that were significantly more expensive than their analogues and less convenient. As a result, SDMI's long and fruitless activities are largely to blame for the loss of the market by traditional manufacturers and the rise of new companies such as Apple, iRiver, Mpio.

2000 – high price, use of then expensive and limited in capacitySD- AndMMC-cards and useSDMI-technologies interfere with devices from leading manufacturers (TDK, Panasonic, Aiwa, SonyAndPhilips) hold the market

After SDMI activity died down, the DRM market experienced a period of stagnation for a couple of years. However, for a number of companies these years were a time of intense work. The years 2003-2004 introduced the world to two new DRM schemes, which today are leading the main struggle for the global market for legal content: FairPlay from Apple Computers and PlaysForSure from Microsoft.

Latest news on the sitesdmi. org, December 2006

FairPlay

In 2000, while SDMI's digital watermarking scheme was failing spectacularly, a small company called Veridisc was working on a DRM scheme that would become the largest legal online market share 5 years later. This technology, called FairPlay (“fair game”), was licensed by the company in 2001 Apple Computers to become the cornerstone of its online digital music store iTunes in 2003.

Developer logoFairPlay

Apple acted wisely by taking a break and entering the market with its offer when most of the US population was already connected to the Internet. A significant part of them did not have the opportunity or desire to download music through P2P networks, and they became the first clients of the new service.

Unlike SDMI, FairPlay does not use a digital watermarking method, but an encoding method. Participating in its work:

• iTunes Server
• AAC audio content encoded using FairPlay algorithms
• iTunes program installed on the buyer's PC
• iPod player

When a user purchases a track from the iTunes online store, the server encrypts it using the Master Key. This key then in turn encoded with a key called the User key. The MP4 container that the user receives contains an encrypted audio stream and an encrypted master key. Separately, after confirming the transaction, the user's key is sent. The user key is individual for each track.

iTunes stores all user keys in a special database. The database, in turn, is encrypted with another key, called the System key, individual for each computer. In Windows OS, in particular, the System key is generated using the BIOS version, Windows version and processor name. A second copy of the user's key database is stored on the iTunes server in the user's account. The system keys are also stored there.

General scheme workFairPlay

This system allows you to realize all the capabilities and limitations of FairPlay DRM. When playing a protected file from computer iTunes decodes the corresponding User key using the individual System key of the PC. Accordingly, iTunes installed on a “foreign” machine will not be able to play this file, because does not have the correct User key. The iTunes server allows you to create no more than five System keys per one account iTunes, if this number is exceeded, it simply will not issue new car user key database. This allows the user to use up to five computers to listen to and record protected music on the iPod.

When you copy files to an iPod, iTunes transfers the MP4 container and the user's decoded key to the player. Thus, you can also transfer files to your iPod only using an authorized version of iTunes that has the appropriate System key. When playing, the player decodes the Master key using the User key, and decodes the audio stream using the Master key.

Such a three-stage system deprives the user of direct access to the decoding master key, and also binds this key to a specific computer, which, in fact, is the main task of DRM.

FairPlay is by no means an exceptionally successful and effective DRM system; it copes with its tasks at the very least and nothing more. Apple has achieved success in spite of rather than because of FairPlay. Although it should be noted that this DRM scheme is quite invisible to the user and does not cause him any trouble, at least as long as he remains within the iTunes Store - iTunes - iPod scheme.

But the fact that FairPlay is one of the levers used by Apple to retain its users has been criticized for a very long time. Tracks purchased from the iTunes online store cannot be played using any player other than an iPod, so the longer a person owns an iPod and, accordingly, the more music he purchases from iTunes, the more difficult it will be for him switch to players from another manufacturer, because this will mean the loss of your entire music collection.

In turn, iPods do not support any DRM, except for FairPlay, which limits users of Apple players in choosing online stores exclusively from iTunes.

This extremely closed system causes many complaints from many different sides. It's leading to lawsuits from entire countries, mostly in Europe, where the share of iPods is small enough for owners of these players to consider buying a device from another manufacturer, and large enough for their voices to be heard. Apple Computer is reacting to this in a "no winners" style - with the largest market share and near-monopoly position in the US, it can afford to claim that it does not need to keep its users by force.

Satirical poster on the topicFairPlay

Windows Media DRM for Portable Devices (Janus)

Unlike Apple, Microsoft was among the SDMI participants. This fact reflects the difference in approaches between companies in developing DRM. Apple needed the most rigid, closed system possible exclusively for use in its vertically integrated iTunes Store-iTunes-iPod scheme. Microsoft sought to create what SDMI failed to create - a universal industry standard for DRM.

Hence the different requirements for the concept. Apple had a clear, unified set of rights and restrictions for the user, for example, no more than five computers with iTunes installed per iTunes account. The DRM scheme had to provide only these requirements; it did not need to be either flexible or universal.

Microsoft was trying to create a system that could then be used by hundreds, if not thousands, of companies around the world: Internet services, manufacturers of playback devices. Each of these companies has its own views on the rights and restrictions for clients. This required maximum flexibility, versatility, and customizability from the DRM scheme.

It's no secret that most owners iPods today - Windows users. For Apple, this OS is “hostile territory”; the company’s capabilities in developing software for it are limited. Microsoft, on the other hand, can do literally anything here.

As a result, Microsoft's DRM is not a modest encoding system, but a rather extensive set of technologies and standards, united under the name PlaysForSure (P4S). PlaysForSure is the name of the certification program, and the DRM scheme itself is called Windows Media DRM for Portable Devices (Windows Media DRM for portable devices) or by its code name, Janus DRM.

These logos mark devices certifiedPlaysForSure

Its key components are:

Online services for the sale of digital music, certified in accordance with P4S standards.

Audio formatWMA(Windows Media Audio for Video – WMV, Windows Media Video). The format is proprietary to Microsoft. All content in the PlaysForSure system must be compressed in this format. WMA and WMV files exist in unprotected form outside the P4S system. Within this system, they are encrypted; the encoding key is stored separately from the content. The latest version of the encoding system is codenamed Janus. WMA and WMV files with P4S DRM are usually containers that, in addition to the content, store information about the location of the license.

FormatWMAbelongs to the family of formatsWindowsMedia, which are the propertyMicrosoft

License. This tool is the fundamental difference between P4S and Fairplay. A P4S license is a collection of data associated with a specific piece of content, such as a song or movie. It includes the key needed to decode the content, as well as the rules and restrictions for the buyer. Rules and restrictions can be very diverse, from the most liberal (do whatever you want with the file) to the most stringent (for example, you can only view the file once on this computer, after which it will self-destruct). The rules are set by the content seller. This flexible approach makes PlaysForSure convenient for online service owners, who can use it to practice a wide variety of business models.

General scheme of workJanus DRM

License Center. In Janus DRM, licenses are not included in the content container, but are supplied separately. For this purpose, there are special online centers for issuing licenses, called License Clearing House. All licenses are stored in these centers and sent to the user upon request of the next P4S component, the Windows Media Player computer software.

Windows Media Player is the equivalent of iTunes for P4S DRM. This software is used to record content onto P4S certified portable digital players. WMP also stores a license database. If you try to play a protected file or record it on portable device the program searches the database for the appropriate license. If there is none, it tries to find a link to the License Clearing House inside the file and download the license from there. If this succeeds, the program executes the user's command, otherwise an error message awaits the user. As with PlaysForSure, each installed copy of WMP has its own unique code, which is used to limit the ability of content to be played on other computers.

WindowWindows Media Player 11

MTP(Media Transfer Protocol). This is another significant difference between PlaysForSure and FairPlay. The latter uses the usual UMS (MSC) protocol to transfer data to the player. Microsoft found UMS “not secure enough,” which prompted it to develop a new protocol.

Essentially, it is a development of the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), developed in 2000 by the I3A (International Imaging Industry Association) for exchanging data with digital cameras.

TargetMicrosoft– create a replacement convenient for manufacturersM.S.C.for players, which has become in digital photographyPTP

The difference between MTP and UMS is the ability to work with closed file systems, which is convenient for many player manufacturers. The fact is that many companies, especially those operating in the American market, are afraid to make their players UMS-compatible, with file FAT system, in order to avoid claims from recording associations. Instead, closed file systems are selected. Before the advent of MTP, this necessitated the use of the same closed protocols and, as a result, the installation of special drivers and software on the computer. MTP has made it possible to somewhat universalize this process - now all such players can interact with a PC through it.

MTPbrought together a variety of manufacturers who had previously been forced to use proprietary proprietary protocols orM.S.C.

Significant disadvantage MTP is its compatibility exclusively with Windows XP with at least version 10 of Windows Media Player installed and the need to use exclusively WMP to record content to the player. In addition, there are still few third-party devices that support connecting MP3 players as storage devices - car radios, stereo systems, etc. – are incompatible with the new MTP.

While car radios withUSB- connectors are becoming increasingly common on the roads, making it impossible to use with themMTP-players are a growing concern

Microsoft is aware of these shortcomings of MTP compared to UMS and is trying to work to improve the protocol. In particular, its latest versions support the transfer and storage of any type of file on the player and are visible in the “My Computer” window, which allows you to use the player as a removable drive. This, of course, does not apply to music; you still have to use WMP for it, otherwise the player simply will not see the recorded files. The PlayFromDevice specification has also been developed; third-party devices certified according to it will be able to support the connection of MTP players. So far, an example of such devices is the Xbox 360 game console, naturally from Microsoft.

ConnectivityMTPdevices is positioned as one of the advantagesXbox

Despite all efforts, MTP remains a much less convenient and universal protocol compared to UMS, although it is certainly a step forward compared to mutually incompatible closed protocols previous years.

It should be borne in mind that the implementation of the MTP protocol may differ between players: some may not support copying files or PlayFromDevice, may not be visible in the “My Computer” window, etc.

Portable digital players, certified by P4S. The main requirements for such devices are support for the MTP protocol and playback of files protected by Janus DRM. There is also a set of other requirements for performance, management, etc.

An unpleasant fact is the policy of “tightening the screws” practiced by Microsoft recently regarding the capabilities of P4S players. Thus, manufacturers of P4S players have the right to implement in their devices, along with MTP support, also USM support. But the second version of the P4S specification requires manufacturers to remove from their players the ability for the user to manually select between using the MTP or UMS protocol. Now all P4S players should automatically detect whether the system has MTP support, and if so, be identified exclusively as MTP devices.

On the other hand, functional improvement of devices is encouraged: the same version of the specification awards additional points to players for best time on/off, transition between tracks, support for Gapless playback, Album Art.

On the pageplaysforsure. comyou can find a wide selectionP4 S-certified devices

In general, this DRM system is vertically integrated from the purchase of content to its operation and in this regard is similar to iTunes. It’s not for nothing that it is FairPlay’s main rival in the fight for the online music market. P4S is a coalition scheme; today there are already quite a lot of participants in it. Despite this, its market share is still seriously inferior to FairPlay. This is not surprising: in the USA, most players are iPods and they are incompatible with P4S; P2P networks are popular in Europe and Asia, which negatively affects online music sales.

P4 S-shops, although they do not occupy last places, are still seriously behindiTunes

All Windows components Media DRM is constantly evolving. Today, the current PlaysForSure specifications are version 2.01 (3.0 should be released in 2007), Windows Media Player 11 (version 12 is expected next year), Windows Media DRM 10.1 (the 10th version is called Janus, the earlier, ninth, simply called WM DRM PD).

In addition to these two main players, we should mention Sony, which, as usual, chose to go its own way and developed its own DRM algorithms.

Open MG

This DRM scheme is proprietary to Sony and is used by it for its vertically integrated digital content distribution system. The latter includes:

Online Store digital music SonyConnect.

Weak salesSonyConnecteven the management of the company itself admitted

Audio formatATRAC3 , also owned by Sony, used to store content. ATRAC3 files are encoded using the OpenMG algorithm with a key called the Content Key. This key is then in turn encoded by the Storage Key. The encoded Storage Key is stored in the header of the ATRAC file. Thus, the OpenMG system assumes joint delivery of the key and content.

ATRAC -one of the oldest audio formats

License. In this plan Sony technology similar to DRM from Microsoft. Each piece of OpenMG content comes with a license containing rules and restrictions for the user. Unlike Microsoft DRM licenses, the OpenMG license does not contain a key.

Computer softwareSonicStage, used to transfer files to portable players. Each copy of SonicStage, as well as each OpenMG-compatible player, has its own Session Key, with the help of which their mutual authorization occurs. If authorization is successful, its participants transfer to each other the Storage Key, which is used to decode the Content Key, which in turn is used to decode the content. This program last years is the object of constant criticism. For a long time, when recording MP3 files on the player, she converted them to the ATRAC3 format and encoded them using OpenMG DRM. This, firstly, reduced the quality of the tracks, and secondly, seriously increased the data transfer time. There were also frequent cases of failures in which people lost all their data stored in the SonicStage library.

Splash screenSonicStage 4.0

OpenMG-compatible players. Today it's exceptional Sony players Walkman on CD, hard drives and built-in flash memory. In the early 2000s, Sony offered players on Memory Stick memory cards. These memory cards were protected by their own hardware DRM mechanism called MagicGate. This DRM scheme has been used by Sony in other devices, such as the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable game consoles.

In 2006Sonybegan to produce more interesting models, what is even more important, at a reasonable price, to support formatsMP3, WMAAndA.A.C.. And yet its market share is far from desired

OpenMG is a cross between FairPlay, due to the fact that it is used exclusively by Sony itself, and PlaysForSure due to its greater versatility in terms of assigning rules and restrictions, and using licenses.

In terms of imposing copyright restrictions, Sony Corporation (which, by the way, includes the world's largest record company and film studio) has always been among the pioneers. As a result, it receives a significant portion of the negative attitude of users towards this limitation.

The severely restricted user rights in SonicStage, in particular, have given the program a very negative reputation, in fact it has become the standard for a bad software manager for digital players. OpenMG and MagicGate DRM technologies also received their share of criticism. Today, OpenMG is one of the least common DRM systems and is seriously behind both Microsoft's DRM and even more so FairPlay.

Another DRM scheme worth mentioning is not directly related to digital players, but does directly affect digital music and video.

OMA DRM

The OMA DRM scheme, as its name suggests, was developed by the Open Mobile Alliance to protect mobile content, first of all, ringtones and their derivatives. MP3 players supporting this type of DRM have not yet been seen, although some platform manufacturers claim similar optional features for their products.

In 2006, the global ringtone market is expected to exceed $5 billion, representing more than 10% of global sales of music in any form.

The first version of OMA DRM appeared in 2002. It included three models, two of which, Forward Lock and Combined Delivery, assumed joint delivery of the key and encrypted content to the consumer, and the third, Separate Delivery, involved separate delivery.

Forward Lock and Combined Delivery provided for a complete ban on any copying of a protected object from the device on which the purchase was made. Combined Delivery differed from Forward Lock in the ability to assign rights and restrictions for the user, for example, the maximum number of content plays.

Separate Delivery provided for separate delivery of encrypted content and a package including the key and user rights. This scheme is reminiscent of Microsoft's DRM licenses. The main advantage of this system is the possibility of further distribution of content - the user has the opportunity to send it to other phones. Their owners will be able to play them only after receiving a key, which they must purchase from the provider along with the rights. Whether anyone will be happy to receive content for which they need to pay money, while receiving a bunch of restrictions on its use, is difficult to say, but Separate Delivery provides such an opportunity.

GeneralschemeOMA 1.0SeparateDelivery

The second version of OMA DRM, announced in 2004, is an evolution of the Separate Delivery model. Specifically, the new version uses public key encryption. The object, which includes the key needed to decode the content and the user's rights, is encrypted with the public key. The secret key it is stored on the user's device. This way, only that device will be able to decode that object to gain access to the key needed to decrypt the content. Other innovations include: the emergence of the concept of a domain, a set of devices that can freely exchange content with each other (for this purpose, a new key is introduced, called Domain key), the ability to preview (preview) content, purchase content “in bulk” (the so-called Bundle ), the ability to purchase content by subscription.

It’s easy to see that OMA DRM, in fact, embodies the dream of record companies: a completely dense system that doesn’t want to hear anything about any Fair Use, severely restricting user rights. Its severity is mitigated by the optionality of use: many providers of ringtones and other content distribute their products without DRM. For a long time, the recording industry did not take ringtones seriously and did not insist on the mandatory use of DRM in their distribution. However, with the advent of realtones, which are not much inferior in quality to MP3 recordings, the situation began to change. On the other hand, OMA 2.0 is already much more liberal towards the user than the first version. In any case, it is clear that the Open Mobile Alliance has made much more progress on the DRM issue than SDMI.

The DRM systems listed are among the most commonly found in portable digital devices. There are other schemes that are less common.

Others

ZuneDRM. To everyone's surprise, Microsoft did not use the PlaysForSure scheme that had been so long and painstakingly built in its player, but developed a new one. So far little is known about her. Its most striking manifestation is that it automatically embeds itself in all files transferred over Wi-Fi and deletes them after three days or after three listens. There is talk about the new DRM that it is part of Microsoft's long-term strategy and is aimed at the commercial exchange of music between users. In any case, such an act by Microsoft at first glance looks very strange - the clientele of PlaysForSure online services are deprived of the opportunity to listen to their music on the new player. On the other hand, this behavior is understandable if the company intends to copy Apple’s business model - a rigid vertically integrated system from its own online service, software and player. In this case, a more strict, stringent and effective DRM system is in demand. However, with what resources Microsoft is going to repeat Apple’s success is still unclear.

Thanks toDRMthe result of the exchange of these twoZunewill live no more than three days (photo from www.haaretz.com)

Helix DRM. RealNetworks was at the forefront of commercial Internet audio, but its formats and solutions could not compete with the more common MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG. In early 2004, it launched a new online music sales service, offering AAC content protected by its Helix DRM technology. The only Helix-compatible device left is the Creative Zen Xtra. The store had very limited success, not least because of the incompatible DRM. This forced RealNetworks to show some dubious originality and develop Harmony technology, which converted Helix-encoded files to FairPlay or WM-DRM protected format. In response, Apple modified its DRM system. Since then, there has been a constant race between the companies: Apple changes its DRM, RealNetworks in response makes changes to the Harmony technology. No new devices supporting Helix DRM have appeared.

CreativeZenXtra– the only player with supportHelixDRM

KoreanDRM-systems. South Korea has a number of its own online services for selling music. Some of them use the PlaysForSure system, but there are also a number of national developments, in particular, X-sync, Mediarose, Netsync. There is very little information about them on the non-Korean Internet.

Prospects for DRM

There are probably no people on this side of the counter today who would view DRM technologies in their current form with approval.

First, DRM severely limits the use of legally purchased content. An absurd situation arises when people, having paid money, receive significantly less opportunities and level of convenience than people who download content illegally.

Secondly, the operation of DRM-protected files is often accompanied by failures and unforeseen situations that can lead to loss of content.

Finally, music and video sellers using DRM are actually openly stating that they consider all their customers to be potential scammers whose capabilities should be limited as much as possible. It is not for nothing that the main metaphors used by the anti-DRM community are “prison” and “concentration camp”.

OpponentsDRMactively use “left”, liberal rhetoric and style (poster of the groupCRFTRwww.crftp.com)

All these negative emotions The concept of DRM itself is problematic. What can we say about the situation when there are several incompatible DRM schemes on the market at the same time! Users of iPods, PlaysForSure and OpenMG players who purchase content from the corresponding online services cannot leave the “digital prisons” built by manufacturers without losing their entire music library, the cost of which is often much higher than the price of any player. We should not forget about the growing market for music phones - only a few of these devices are compatible with FairPlay or PlaysForSure DRM.

Criticism of the current state of affairs comes from all sides. Many do not limit themselves to words, but actively fight against DRM. All existing DRM schemes have already been hacked many times, and “cure” that allows the user to get rid of DRM protection in their files is widely available through the Internet.

The severe limitations of existing DRM schemes and their incompatibility with each other are considered main reason crisis of online sales of digital content in 2006. More and more users are choosing illegal downloading through P2P networks - not only because it is free, but also because of convenience.

Stagnation of online digital music sales in the United States in 2006 (dataNielsenSoundScan)

The solution for the industry is DRM-free online sales. An example is given of the online store eMusic, which, by selling exclusively music produced by small independent record companies, was able to climb to second place after iTunes in terms of sales. This service offers regular MP3 files without DRM protection. Voices calling to stop treating customers as criminals and artificially limiting the use of honestly purchased goods have been getting louder lately.

Offering music from independent record labels withoutDRM, eMusicsold her 100 millionth track in December 2006

The fact remains that modern DRM schemes demonstrate their lack of competitiveness. Sales of digital content are stagnating, and illegal P2P networks continue to occupy up to 90% of the global online music market. The solution for the industry could be either the creation of a fundamentally different concept of DRM, or a complete abandonment of attempts to protect rights to digital content.

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, which translates as “digital rights management.” Thus, the answer to the question: “DRM protection - what is it” will be: “It is a class of technologies that are used by publishers to control content.” This can be expressed in this way: an audiobook that was purchased digitally on the site will be played normally on the computer with which the purchase was made. But if you copy it to another computer, it will become unnecessary file, which cannot be opened by any player.

Real application examples DRM technologies may turn out to be much more difficult.

DRM was designed from the beginning to prevent digital products from being copied. But the next generation of technology provided the tools to limit viewing, printing, and editing.

In an attempt to protect the interests of copyright holders, DRM protection has become the cause of a considerable number of complaints from users purchasing digital products. The inability to use purchased music through various devices had a negative impact on customer demand. As a result, publishers realized that it was possible to sell music digitally without imposing DRM protection. It will be even more successful. In other words, DRM protection even had a negative impact on sales of various digital products.

DRM protection - what is it?

Over time, these technologies were able to gain support in legislation. For example, in large quantities Countries have laws that prohibit circumvention of copy protection. In these states, disputes about whether DRM protection is needed, how to remove it, etc., are essentially illegal.

But DRM also poses another complication because such technologies can interfere with users' ability to exercise their legal rights. That is why, in order to understand what DRM protection is, you need to realize that with it it is not possible to create backup copies of a purchased work.

Without delving into legislative practices on the application of various laws in everyday life, it is possible to propose a scheme for how to remove DRM protection, which will be completely legal in most countries. The only exception would be Australia. It is possible to create several copies for your own needs or for reserve, but not for sale or distribution. Please note that the process of creating copies of more than 10 pieces may be considered commercial use. Therefore, you should avoid copying more than normal. There are no clear restrictions on making copies. For this reason, it is technically possible to lose DRM somewhere in the process of obtaining mp3 copies that are not protected. But using a program that is designed to disable copy protection may be a violation of the law. Thus, when talking about how to bypass DRM protection, you should remember that you can only do this for your own personal purposes.

How to do this?

But it’s good that this technology can be removed using programs for general use that are not covered by DRM protection. How to remove it? The best example in this case is the mp3Recorder Studio application. To do this, you need to enable playback of the purchased audio file with protection when using the required program (WMP, iTunes or another). Next, you need to capture the audio using mp3Recorder Studio and then save the audio directly to mp3. This process will use the built-in function of sound cards, which allows you to capture sound already in the middle of the device. Most sound cards provide a recording device called “Stereo Mix”. However, different names are used. This device makes it possible to capture everything that is reproduced by the sound card. To do this, you may need to install the latest driver from the card manufacturer's official website. Typically, the drivers that Windows automatically installs most often disable and hide such a device.

“Digital copyright management” (or, more simply, copy protection systems) is supposed to protect copyright. But in reality, not only does it not fulfill its main function, but it also makes PCs accessible to hackers. How and for what reason does this happen?

Why do you need to remove DRM protection?

DRM systems can also be insecure. With the wrong options for implementing copy protection, it is possible to open holes in the computer's security system, which, in turn, would remain closed in the absence of DRM. The point here is that in order to block normal copy functions in the OS, rights management software packages need the broadest access rights to system files, and in fact take over control of such functions.

A good example of an unsafe implementation of this technology is the anti-copying system for audio CDs from Sony BMG. This rootkit was placed on a large number of audio CDs from a music label that is one of the most famous in the world. When such a disc was loaded into a computer's CD-ROM, automatic mode The installation of the XCP program for WINDOWS began. It was supposed to protect against copying of an entire album or the process of stealing tracks from a disc.

The XCP rootkit penetrated deep into the OS, and at the same time it installed completely independently. The ability to uninstall using normal methods was not possible. Also, during operation, it took up a large part of the memory and could cause crashes. But the most important thing is that absolutely nothing was written about this rootkit and its functioning. user agreement(EULA). This is all despite the fact that almost no one reads such agreements.

But the most important thing is that the XCP rootkit posed a real threat to the entire system. For example, after its installation, all files that begin with $sys$ acquired the “hidden” mode. This was immediately used by virus creators. For example, the Breplibot Trojan, which was sent as attachments to E-mails, was detected only by antivirus programs and programs. Such unsafe files were absolutely invisible to users.

How to disable protection

DRM protection on WMV and WMA files is done in stages.

These days, most downloaded audio and video files that are protected (WMP, iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, Bearshare, Spiral Frog) are DRM files.

The process of writing a file is not complicated. There is a free method to remove DRM protection from WMV and WMA files. This is done in two steps.

1. You need to burn the DRM WMA file to a CD or DRM WMV to a DVD.

2. You need to extract WMV and WMA with protection to the PC itself, after which DRM protection will be disabled.

Rewrite method

This method is the most popular and accessible. It consists of burning DRM WMA and DRM WMV files with a regular converter that converts recorded and unprotected files. Precisely because such technology is easy to use, formats that differ from DRM WMA and DRM WMV will also be supported by converters such as SoundTaxi, NoteBurner and others. But this also has its downsides.

New technology

Hook Hook is an advanced technology that can be used to disable EPUB DRM protection. When comparing these programs with rewriting programs, it is this type that has a noticeable fast conversion. However, it will not be easy to make it work with some of the DRM formats that have new high-quality encryption techniques.

After testing, the result was that DRM WMA and DRM WMV protection is simply removed using Digital Music Converter. This program can extract audio content from DRM WMV files. This program also supports other unprotected formats, such as: mp3, M4b, M4A, WAV, AC3, AAC.

Conversion steps:

1. First you need to add DRM WMA, DRM WMV or other files that are not protected.

2. You need to select the desired outgoing format.

What is DRM? Why do you need to remove DRM from WMA WMV files?

Speaking about the meaning of the term “DRM protection” (what it is - we generally discussed above), you need to know: these are programs that protect against copying and make it difficult to perform actions related to video and audio files. For example, if WMA or WMV files downloaded from WMP are protected with DRM, then it is possible to play them only using compatible devices. If every song had DRM, then the user would have to purchase this track on disk in order to listen to it using a player or car radio. For example, if tunes were purchased on iTunes and they are listened to on the iPOd, then due to the fact that they have already been purchased, the user will not need to perform this action again and again. You just need to remove DRM from the file, and you will be able to play it on iPod, Zune, PSP, CD player, PC and other devices.

Cautions

This method is not entirely suitable, sometimes it can even cause damage to the CD-Roma. WMP only has the ability to record DRM WMA and DRM WMV files. For other formats you will need DVD-Ripper.

Due to the long recording process, the conversion speed will not be better. During the recording process, much of the video or audio quality may be lost.

DRM is a protection tool intellectual property, allowing the copyright holder to control access, preventing unauthorized copying and distribution of software. The technology is used on various products, including mobile operating systems, so users periodically have the question of what it is to reset a DRM license on Android.

What is DRM

DRM is an abbreviation for Digital Rights Management, which can be translated as “digital rights management.” Control is realized by placing various technical means, which prevent the illegal disposal of software. The owner can use the protected product only for personal purposes; he will not be able to copy it and sell it. In essence, DRM is a kind of digital lock, the key to which must be purchased from the copyright holder.

The DRM key for gaining access is presented in the form of a code, the creation of which uses cryptographic algorithms. It is very difficult to hack, and you can only get it after purchasing a digital product with a license. On Android technology often implemented like this:

1. A person buys a new device, in which the manufacturer preinstalls certain software.
2. After turning on and activating the device, the software starts working for free in demo mode. After the trial period, the application ceases to function, requiring the purchase of a license.

Purchasing access to a full version of the software is an element of DRM. This is just one of possible options, there are other examples of copyright protection.

The procedure for resetting DRM differs depending on what the license covers. For example, using hacker software, you can reset the program launch counter, unlink files from the site, disable key verification, and perform other actions to unlink the license. As for Android, a reset can be done without hacker software.

You must use this feature with extreme caution, because after resetting your license you may lose access to individual opportunities product. DRM keys are needed to run special applications from the phone manufacturer. You can find such programs on Sony, Samsung, etc. devices. After resetting the key, branded applications may stop working, but otherwise the functionality of the phone will remain at the same level.

It has nothing to do with giving up a license. If, when rolling back settings, all applications installed by the user, as well as personal data, are deleted from the phone, then deleting the license only leads to the disabling of the software built in by the manufacturer.

If you want to find out what requirements different applications have, what programs will be affected by removing licenses, whether the device supports the technologies that are needed for normal functioning services, then install DRM Info on your mobile device. The application displays information about DRM components, at the same time indicating whether they are supported on devices.
Why is this information needed? To understand whether it is worth buying premium accounts or applications with licenses. For example, to play Full HD and 4K videos on Netflix, you need 1 level of Google Widevine. Most devices come with the third level, therefore, there is no point in spending money on a premium account, because there will be no improvement in quality - the device does not support the necessary technologies.