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AegisDRM Partner Universe FAQ

CONFIDENTIAL

Last updated Friday September 01, 2006

Collateral

We strongly favor resellers developing collateral to match their own markets geographically and by sector. This is part of the unique value that resellers add. When giving demonstrations we strongly suggest that you guide the customer through the demo - in person or by telephone - don't just give a URL and say  "there it is",  but work with them and support them by listening and answering questions.

However the following material is available for you to base you material on. You may use it to market and sell any of our product but not products which are not licensed by us.

You should email material you develop to us for checking before making it available.

Please do not direct customers directly to these resources, but use them to develop your own.

Product overview.

Commercial and Technical Notes for Resellers

What's special about AegisDRM, and why is it needed?


AegisDRM digital rights management goes beyond the information security products already in use in many corporate, government and other medium and large scale organizations. Systems commonly in use aim to control who can access particular documents, content or information, but do nothing to protect it against misuse by authorized users.


The majority of security breeches involve accidental or deliberate misuse by authorized users, who have obtained information legitimately, not by overcoming security measures.


With other systems, an authorized recipient can pass documents or their contents to anyone, whether maliciously or inadvertently, for example by copying and pasting extracts or entire documents, capturing images or text, or saving as a new document. Organizations have faced a choice between the inconvenience and inefficiency of physical security procedures, such as keeping sensitive documents in locked file rooms, and the risks of allowing electronic access.


Now, AegisDRM digital rights management brings together security, control and efficiency, allowing organizations to communicate electronically and control what users can do with material they are given access to. Where appropriate it can be used to provide the kind of 'eyes only' access normally achievable only by face to face meetings, by allowing particular recipients to view something for a short time, without being able copy, capture, print, forward or save to keep a potentially damaging copy, but at the same time being able to read or use it as necessary in order to absorb the information it contains.


AegisDRM solutions are specifically designed for security and efficiency, to empower customers to work and communicate conveniently and efficiently and protect themselves against the business harm and legal liability caused by material getting into the wrong hands.
 

Why Protect?

It's important for the seller and the buyer to understand what the buyer will gain from the solution and what they will lose if they continue without it.
What is the value of the information or content to be protected? For example, how many man-years work has it taken to produce it; how much does it contribute to the value of the business?
What loss or damage will be caused if information gets into the wrong hands (e.g. competitors, the media / general public)? What would be the financial and other consequences of legal liability or loss of business?

  • How will the customer benefit from being able to communicate it electronically and efficiently?

  • What value does that bring financially?

  • How would it affect the individual(s) responsible for security if they chose not to protect in this way, and material leaked out?

Advantages of AegisDRM solutions over other DRM offerings.

AegisDRM solutions are developed according to the needs of the many corporations and other organizations that come to it for solutions to problems they face in real life. AegisDRM solutions are therefore unrivalled in their combination of security, flexibility, ease of use, and cost effectiveness.
 

Security

AegisDRM solutions use 256 Bit AES encryption compliant with US Department of Defense standards (or other if restrictions forbid the use of 256 Bit) and AegisDRM digital rights management technologies to provide security even when material is being viewed or used. It is important to note that content encryption does not protect material during display, so the digital rights management used is vital. Most other DRM systems use third party DRM components such as Adobe, which can be broken in a few minutes, so even if strong encryption is used this does not mean that content or information is safe.
 

Flexibility

AegisDRM solutions offer a great deal of flexibility - in the systems with which they work, in the range of file formats protected and in the control of information and content that they provide. Unlike other DRM systems AegisDRM solutions work with almost any server type, and with client machines from Windows 98 onwards, not just the latest versions. Almost any web viewable content type is protected by the off-the-shelf Protector solutions. MS Office documents are protected and controlled by PaM, and can be transmitted to recipients in the same ways as normal Office documents - email, disk, intranet etc.
Both the content protected and the rights assigned to different users can be updated or revoked at any time, with immediate effect.
 

Ease of use

AegisDRM solutions are designed to make things easy for everyone involved in them, to allow tasks to go on without disruption. For example, content and information protected with Protector solutions can be maintained and updated in the same ways as unprotected content, and viewed by the intended recipients without inconveniencing them. In contrast, other DRM systems are difficult or inconvenient to manage, and require recipients to download and install large pieces of software in order to view protected material - causing inconvenience, resentment and a support burden (and even leading to project failure).
 

Secure Collaboration

AegisDRM PaM is unique in allowing protection of MS Office documents within the MS Office environment and allowing secure editing of material where required, providing a convenient and secure environment for collaborative work on sensitive information.

Use of existing hardware and software.


AegisDRM solutions allow you to protect and control information and content without changing or upgrading hardware or software. Any major server type may be used, and users protecting or viewing material may be on on Windows 98, Me, NT 4, 2000 and XP. In contrast most other DRM systems have more specific requirements for server types and software.

Cost effectiveness

Initial Cost: AegisDRM license fees are known to be lower than those of competing systems with which customers compare them. Recent comments on pricing include that it is very reasonable, and less than other systems looked at. The up front investment made in implementing a DRM system consists not just of the licensing fees for the DRM product itself, but equally importantly the cost of any new hardware required, the cost of any new software or software upgrades required, and any additional costs that arise as a result of employee time being taken up in putting the system in place. AegisDRM clearly has a big advantage here since additional hardware and software is not required, and AegisDRM solutions are designed to be implemented quickly and easily, with little or no user training or support requirements.

Running cost

Costs involved in using AegisDRM solutions are likely to be negligible. In contrast to some other systems there are no usage based or other ongoing fees, and no third party licensing fees, which can be prohibitive. There is usually no additional work involved in communicating or distributing information or content protected with an AegisDRM solution rather than unprotected, and the ease with which recipients view protected content means they can simply get on with using it in the intended manner, in contrast to other systems where significant amounts of technical support are needed, increasing the workload and running costs of IT support staff or customer services teams.
 

ROI

The effectiveness of AegisDRM digital rights management and security and its unrivalled ease of use allow improved efficiency and effectiveness internally, allowing goals to be achieved faster, and profits to be increased: cumbersome security procedures and even normal methods of sharing information can be replaced wherever appropriate with the speed and convenience of electronic transmission, improving efficiency.


At the same time, direct cost savings can be achieved in everyday communication and distribution of information or content electronically rather than through physically secure storage, courier, or travel. Increased efficiency and direct cost savings are not likely to be achieved by other systems that make communication inconvenient or even difficult.


Likewise the easier and more convenient it is to protect, control and use sensitive or valuable material, the greater will be the prevention of leakage of this material and of the resulting loss of business or achievement, or legal liabilities, either of which could be seriously damaging.


The combination AegisDRM's lower up front and running costs with its greater effectiveness in reducing existing costs and risks should lead to a substantially larger and faster return on investment.
 

The main specific needs addressed by each off-the-shelf product, and their major competitive advantages.

Protector, Protector RS (Protector with RightsServer) and Protector RS Plus:

The Protector solutions meet two main categories of needs: firstly, the need of corporate, government and other organizations to share sensitive or valuable information internally or with partners or contractors, and to maintain competitive advantage or fulfill privacy obligations by preventing that information from being passed on to unauthorized users or otherwise misused; secondly, the need of publishers and content providers to make content available to customers or the public in such a way that their customers can easily use it for the intended purposes, but that their business is not eroded by piracy or casual sharing of content, by preventing content from being copied and re-used, and by preventing legitimate customers from passing it on to others who may otherwise become customers themselves.

Protector RS meets the need, in both the above categories, to control access to and use of information or content in such a way that it can be made available to different users or usergroups to different extents, and that individual or group rights can be assigned, updated or revoked at any time, with immediate effect, giving flexible, real time control over which users can access which information or content, and how different groups or individuals can use it. Protector RS also meets the need, in both the above categories, to time limit availability - for example for time sensitive data or for content subscriptions.

Protector RS Plus meets the need of publishers to allow new users to subscribe or register online and gain controlled access to material automatically as soon as their card transaction is approved, cutting the publishers workload and improving the customer experience.

Summary of Major Competitive Advantages

  • Simplest, most efficient way to protect and manage material;

  • Easiest for those viewing protected material;
    Strongest encryption and digital rights management, including screen-capture prevention;

  • Wide range of formats protected;

  • Works with any server type;

  • Most cost-effective - no additional software or hardware required, simple rapid implementation, most effective in reducing risks and costs;

  • Only the intended version of content or information is available, not previously viewed, replaced versions.

  • Flexible, real time control with RightsSever - assign different users or user groups appropriate rights to different content, including view, forward, print and save, and update or revoke rights as necessary, with immediate effect.

PaM (Protector add-in for MS Office with RightsServer)

PaM is designed to meet the need of corporate, government and other organizations to allow internal users to work collaboratively with each other or with external users such as contractors, within their normal MS Office working environment, in such a way that documents may be used and, where appropriate, edited, but that information is kept secure and cannot be extracted and redistributed or re-used, even by those authorized to edit. PaM and PaM RS also meet the need to control access to and use of MS Office documents by non-contributing users.

PaM allows offline use, to allow secured documents to be used when no network or Internet connection is available, for example during travel. PaM RS allows rights to be assigned, updated or revoked at any time with immediate effect, giving flexible, real time control over information and its use.

Summary of Major Competitive Advantages

  • The only system to allow secure editing/collaboration;

  • The most convenient and effective way to protect information contained in MS Office documents - secure documents to be both created and used within MS Office applications;

  • Secure documents can be transmitted by attaching them in any email system (not just Outlook), on disk, via intranet - however the user would transfer a normal document;

  • Works with any server type;
    Strongest encryption and digital rights management, including screen-capture prevention.

  • Flexible, real time control with RightsServer - assign different users or user groups appropriate rights to different documents, and update or revoke rights as necessary, with immediate effect.

  • Most cost-effective - no additional software or hardware required, simple rapid implementation, most effective in reducing risks and costs;

LicenseMaster

The main needs addressed by LicenseMaster are

  • Preventing loss of business through piracy of software;

  • preventing loss of business through casual copying and sharing of software;

  • enabling resellers and distributors to issue licenses independently while ensuring that each license they issue is paid for;

  • tracking customer activations and licenses issued, simply and effectively;

  • enabling software vendors to protect software cost-effectively.

Summary of Major Competitive Advantages

  • All-in-one piracy prevention and tracking of reseller/distributor activity;

  • Ability for software vendors to protect custom or small volume software cost-effectively, whether delivered by download or on disk;

  • Where software is mass-produced on disk, reduces replication costs and speeds up the production process;

  • Flexibility to allow identical set-up packages to be usable on different numbers of machines depending on the license purchased;

  • Flexibility to issue additional licenses even after distribution, to allow use on additional machines;

  • Flexibility to add additional resellers/distributors at any time.

Protector Offline with LicenseMaster


Protector Offline addresses the need to keep sensitive information confidential or prevent loss of business through piracy or sharing of content, even when it is stored on a user's computer or on CD-ROM/DVD-ROM. It also addresses the need to move rapidly from completion to distribution of content, and the need to protect and distribute small volumes or even individual items cost effectively.

Summary of Major Competitive Advantages

  • Works with downloaded content as well as disks;
    Works with AegisDRM LicenseMaster to allow flexible, extendable licensing.

  • Speeds up the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM production process, as disks do not have to have keys imprinted into them, so this step and the additional testing it requires can be removed.

  • Lowers disk replication costs, as identical disks can be used for different purposes.

  • Allows individual or small numbers of disks to be protected in house - rapidly and cost-effectively.

  • All-in-one piracy prevention and tracking of reseller/distributor activity;

  • Flexibility to allow identical disks or set-up packages to be usable on different numbers of machines depending on the license purchased;

  • Flexibility to issue additional licenses even after distribution, to allow use on additional machines;
    Flexibility to add additional resellers/distributors at any time.

  • Offering a single DRM format for a pipeline of content including Flash, Shockwave, XML, HTML (RealAudio, RealVideo), MP3 and MPEG-4 formats, as well as H.263 video, AAC and Narrowband AMR audio

Custom and Bespoke Solutions

  • Where customers have additional needs, off-the-shelf solutions can be customized or bespoke solutions provided to meet them.

  • When customers have specific needs VARS can add value by consulting or can refer the work on to us. There are two options for Custom and Bespoke work.

    • The VAR provides a precise specification for the solution that your customer requires, including all executables and samples that you require compatibility with and your acceptance criteria. the customer place the order and pays on acceptance that the solution meets the exact criteria that the customer has defined. Up to 50% of the fee may be payable in advance to cover costs stop this being a way of getting free demos from a number of vendors.

    • If you have not got a specification or feel that your specification may change as you think of new things, or if you need a working demonstration of your specific solution working in your specific environment your can continue by engaging us on a consulting basis to try our specific integrations and to explore possibilities before committing to the option above. This may or may not work out cheaper in the short term than above.

Policy

  • Contact us for policies on sales of competing product lines and mandatory customer escalation policy (allowing customers to escalate sales at any time to us if they are not satisfied with the reseller).

  • All prospects and customers should receive responses from resellers within one business day of them contacting the reseller. As a guide, we would expect contact to be made weekly where a prospect or customer is waiting for development work.

Standards

Content Identification and Management

Digital Object Identifier (DOI®) - Administered by the International DOI Foundation (IDF), the DOI is considered to be an “actionable identifier” for identifying and managing intellectual property on the Internet. One of the leading MPEG-21 proposed content identification schemes, the DOI allows intellectual property owners to describe and dynamically manage their content in a networked environment and has been designed to be interoperable with past, present and future systems. It is considered an “actionable identifier” because it implements the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) Handle System which allows metadata attributes to be updated and resolved to a current information view of an asset over the network in real-time. DOI Application Profiles presents different industries the ability to register profiles to handle their specific metadata requirements. RightsServer utilizes the DOI as its primary content identification scheme.
 

RightsServer should not be viewed as a typical DRM system, but rather as a content management and distribution framework for securing digital assets. In order to protect digital assets, it is critical to protect the content with encryption technology, however encryption technology alone is not enough. User and Content must be identifiable and communication between client and server tools must be secure and tamper resistant. Some of the biggest challenges related to building a content distribution framework lie not with encrypting the files alone, but with using encryption in conjunction with reliable mechanisms for uniquely identifying users and content. These concepts are fundamental to effectively securing media assets and managing access to those assets:

User Management - The RightsServer User Management infrastructure serves as the cornerstone of the system's security framework. In order to manage rights and enforce role based rules and permissions, the framework needs to be able to uniquely identify every user of the system. RightsServer issues each user a Digital Certificate (or Digital Id) when they register with the system. This Digital Id, is a standards-based electronic file that uniquely identifies the user to the system and indicates to which group(s) the user belongs. It also enables secure, confidential communications with the RightsServer components helping to ensure that sensitive data is not compromised during transit.

Content Identification and Management - While there are many challenges associated with making the transition from the realm of physical media assets to digital media assets, the importance of uniquely identifying content remains constant in both realms. Just as a Compact Disc album or a DVD movie are identifiable by their UPC Codes, a digital version (or instance) of a media asset must be easily discernable. RightsServer implements one of the leading MPEG-21 proposed content identification schemes to solve the challenge of uniquely identifying digital assets. It is suggested that content be put under the management of the framework during or immediately after creation so that the asset can be identified, managed, and tracked throughout its life cycle.

Rights Management - Managing rights related to digital media assets encompasses the ability to issue, validate, authenticate and revoke permissions to a given asset(s) in a networked (or standalone) environment. RightsServer has a robust permission and constraint model that allows content owners the ability to issue rights that can be governed by constraints ranging from simple to complex.


Knowledgebase

  • You can look on our Knowledgebase at

http://knowledgebase.aegisdrm.com/index.htm

This information is not for public access.

Downloads

You will need activation codes for all these packages

Accessing your LicenseMaster account Note that if you are a reseller and have been issued a LicenseMaster account number you can issue trial licenses of 15 or 30 days to potential customers and full licenses to any of your sales, support and technical team. Any full licenses issued to customers will be charged for and will be payable at standard rates within 30 days. Use of LicenseMaster to issue full Licenses is legally binding - in the same way as opening the shrink wrap on sealed software. Any other practice would undermine the auditing abilities of LicenseMaster and makes the system worthless as a software licensing system.

We do not support 'sale or return' on full software licenses.

Contact us to find out more


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