Digital rights management (DRM) is access control technology for digital content such as music, ebooks, applications, video, and movies. Access control is based on a rights object associated with content. This rights object contains rules that limit the use, distribution, and duplication of content. DRM schemes such as OMA DRM v1 and OMA DRM v2 are developed by Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) but many device manufacturers have their proprietary DRM schemes as well.
A DRM system contains the following components:
Content server: This is the server from where the device pulls the media content.
Rights server: The server from where the device pulls in the rights object. The rights object is usually an XML file with permissions and constraints associated with the content.
DRM agent: The agent lives within the device and is the trusted body that associates content and rights and enforcement of rights and permissions on content.