Is it feasible to setup DRM license servers by our own

Question

We want to add DRM encryption in our content and want to know if its actually feasible to have our own DRM server or should go with third party ? Also if feasible can we implement all 3 fairplay, playready, widevine ?

Answer 1

It is feasible in theory - companies have done that. It is, however, quite a lot of work... think about:

• User authentication: is user XYZ a valid subscriber, whatever that means?
• Entitlement management: does user XYZ have a right to access movie "The Hangover"? And if so, is it for a limited time? Are they allowed to view it in 4K? Can the output go via HDMI and if so, which HDCP version? Etc... All these things are spelled out in the studios license agreement, and therefore need to be enforced.
• Keeping the server key material up to date: keeping the various server certificates up to date by dealing directly with Apple, Microsoft, Google; ensure reasonable key rotation, etc.
• Interfacing with media encoders: you probably have a streaming server powered by an encoder (AWS Elemental, Harmonic, Bitmovin, etc.), which means you need to ensure the license servers share key material with the encoder, so that the stream gets protected with the correct key. Again, think about key rotation, especially for live events.

I could go on for a while, but this should give a hint of the extra effort involved when running it by yourself as opposed to licensing a pre-packaged multi-DRM solution.