Digital rights management – it’s not just for musicians anymore!

DRM (Digital Rights Management) refers to a collection of systems used to protect the copyrights of electronic media. These include digital music and movies, as well as other data that is stored and transferred digitally. For example, the Apple iTunes Music Store uses a DRM system to limit the number of computers that songs can be played on. Each audio file downloaded from the iTunes music store includes information about the owner of the file and how many times the file was transferred. The protected files will not play on computers that have not been authorized to play the music.

While the Aprio Boardroom is not iTunes, it does have similar amazing features that benefit a cohesive and adaptable level of restrictions and control. Aprio Boardroom supports:

• Restricted printing. If the user only has the right to view the document, then printing will not be allowed.
• Watermarks, or Footers, with the administrator having the ability to determine what the Watermark or Footer would say. (For example, the Administrator may put the person’s name on the footer, and /or have confidential watermarked across the page.)
• Add page numbering to the entire document so that everyone can follow along with the same page.
• Add passwords at the document level that add an extra layer of security.
• Restrict viewing rights for one or more board members in the event they have a conflict of interest. (This will leave the item blank (for those with the conflict) and they won’t even see the agenda topic. You can also use this feature for evaluation purposes, where the board is keeping a document confidential from management (i.e. CEO evaluation) until the Board has reviewed it.
• Rights Validation – to ensure that content created from existing content includes the rights to do so.
• Rights Creation – to allow rights to be assigned to new content, such as specifying the rights owners and allowable usage permissions. Rights Workflow – to allow for content to be processed through a series of workflow steps for review and/or approval of rights and even content.
• Request digital signatures from users, validate their validity and create reports.

Together, these features provide the core functionality for the DRM of the Aprio Boardroom. The functional architecture is only part of the solution to the challenges of DRM. Rights Management can become complex remarkably quickly. As a result, the Aprio Boardroom’s DRM systems support the most flexible information model possible to provide for these complex and layered relationships.