Protect Software
Encyclopedia
Protect Software is a globally operating, Germany based company that develops and markets licensing
, access control
and secure distribution technologies for creative works. This includes digital media (video
, music
) and computer software
(consumer software, enterprise software
and video games). Customers include major movie studio
s, PC video game publishers and independent software vendor
s.
copy protection system for software developed by ACE GmbH in 1996, in Dortmund, Germany. Protect Software was spun off in 2004 to focus on the copy protection
business while the main company focused on media transcoding
solutions.
media. Their principal use is to prevent, reduce and delay working copies of CD and DVD content or allow explicit copying under a defined license
.
solutions that range from a complete customizable webstore
incl. payment gateway
for integration on existing website
s to simple software
unlocking functionality that can be integrated from software partners for interaction with existing webstore
s. It also offers special distribution solutions for software previews and Film screening
that utilize Digital watermarking
technology to track content.
solutions for video files and computer software, which enables movie and software publishers to license their movies and software for different use cases such as rental or video on demand
.
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
, access control
Access control
Access control refers to exerting control over who can interact with a resource. Often but not always, this involves an authority, who does the controlling. The resource can be a given building, group of buildings, or computer-based information system...
and secure distribution technologies for creative works. This includes digital media (video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
) and computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
(consumer software, enterprise software
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
and video games). Customers include major movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
s, PC video game publishers and independent software vendor
Independent software vendor
Independent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...
s.
History
The first product was a CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
copy protection system for software developed by ACE GmbH in 1996, in Dortmund, Germany. Protect Software was spun off in 2004 to focus on the copy protection
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
business while the main company focused on media transcoding
Transcode
Transcoding is the direct digital-to-digital data conversion of one encoding to another, such as for movie data files or audio files. This is usually done in cases where a target device does not support the format or has limited storage capacity that mandates a reduced file size, or to convert...
solutions.
ProtectDISC
The ProtectDISC family of software is designed to be used on mass replicated CD and DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
media. Their principal use is to prevent, reduce and delay working copies of CD and DVD content or allow explicit copying under a defined license
License
The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...
.
- ProtectDISC Software is a copy protection and digital rights managementDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
solution for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
applications and video games on mass replicatedReplication (optical media)In optical disc manufacturing, replication is the process of producing discs via methods that do not involve "burning" blank CD, DVD or other discs; the latter is known as duplication.The replication of optical discs involves:...
CDs and DVDs, designed to prevent the copying of discs for casual or commercial use. Early versions were only capable of protecting CDs, but support for protecting DVDs and online unlocking was added in later versions. The system adds a unique digital signature to the CD or DVD at the time of replication, which cannot be transferred from the original media to a copy. Each time a protected program runs, the program performs various security checks and verifies the signature on the media, and once verification has been established, the program will start normally.
- ProtectDISC Video is a copy protection system for mass replicated Video-DVDs, which stops copy and rippingRippingRipping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
softwareComputer softwareComputer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
from analyzing the structure of the DVD, and therefore preventing copying. Early versions were only capable of protecting DVDs without DVD-ROM content and no CSS, but later versions added support for CSS, DVD-ROM content and LiveDigitalCopy. Although the company does not give out any data on usage, the system seems to be most often used for European DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
Releases and North American Releases from Universal StudiosUniversal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and Sony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
.
- SecureBurn is a software development kitSoftware development kitA software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
used for anti ripping copy protection of recordable DVDDVD recordableDVD recordable and DVD rewritable refer to part of Optical disc recording technologies. DVD optical disc formats that can be recorded by a DVD recorder, , either write once or rewritable format written by laser, as compared to DVD-ROM, which is mass-produced by pressing, primarily for the...
media. It is intended for video download-to-burn solutions, and is also used to protect small editions of burned DVDs such as DVD screenersScreenerA screener is an advance screening of a film sent to critics, awards voters, video stores , and other film industry professionals, including producers and distributors. A screener often has no post-processing....
. No authoring changes need to be done in order to add SecureBurn to a Video-DVD, and the protection can be added on the fly during burning. The system can be combined with other copy protections such as recordable CSS, however SecureBurn is not an open standard and although currently no known compatibility problems exist, the company does not guarantee that all future DVD playerDVD playerA DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
s will be compatible with the copy protection.
- LiveDigitalCopy is a technology for performing a Digital CopyDigital copyDigital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
of a DVD by dynamically transcodingTranscodeTranscoding is the direct digital-to-digital data conversion of one encoding to another, such as for movie data files or audio files. This is usually done in cases where a target device does not support the format or has limited storage capacity that mandates a reduced file size, or to convert...
the content without requiring pre-encodedEncoderAn encoder is a device, circuit, transducer, software program, algorithm or person that converts information from one format or code to another, for the purposes of standardization, speed, secrecy, security, or saving space by shrinking size.-Media:...
files. DVD require a special preparation step after the authoring step to add the DVD-ROM section and modify the DVD structures in a way that transcoding the content does not violate the DMCA by circumventing the CSS or other copy protection. This preparation is typically performed by the manufacturer prior to the glass mastering step.
ProtectBURN
The ProtectBURN family of software is designed to be used on recordable CD and DVD media to prevent, reduce and delay working copies. A different solution also enables the writing of CSS protected DVDs with special media and special DVD burners based on the CSS Managed Recording specification.- ProtectBURN Video is a structural copy protectionCopy protectionCopy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
system for recordable Video-DVDs, which stops copy and rippingRippingRipping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
softwareComputer softwareComputer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
from analyzing the structure of the DVD, and therefore preventing copying. The protection process can be performed by the publisher or the replicator by using computer software supplied by Protect Software, and DVD authoringDVD authoringDVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum group in 1995...
changes are not required. The system is used by some movie studioMovie studioA movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
s, and duplication services to create low quantities of copy protected discs. One example is the protection of screeners for the Academy Awards.
Online Distribution
The company offers different online distributionDigital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...
solutions that range from a complete customizable webstore
Webstore
A webstore is a website that sells products or services and typically has an online shopping cart associated with it. With the popularity of the Internet rapidly increasing, online shopping became advantageous for retail store owners, and many traditional “brick and mortar” stores saw value in...
incl. payment gateway
Payment gateway
A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks, or traditional brick and mortar. It is the equivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retail outlets...
for integration on existing website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s to simple software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
unlocking functionality that can be integrated from software partners for interaction with existing webstore
Webstore
A webstore is a website that sells products or services and typically has an online shopping cart associated with it. With the popularity of the Internet rapidly increasing, online shopping became advantageous for retail store owners, and many traditional “brick and mortar” stores saw value in...
s. It also offers special distribution solutions for software previews and Film screening
Film screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle...
that utilize Digital watermarking
Digital watermarking
Digital watermarking is the process of embedding information into a digital signal which may be used to verify its authenticity or the identity of its owners, in the same manner as paper bearing a watermark for visible identification. In digital watermarking, the signal may be audio, pictures, or...
technology to track content.
Rights Management
The company offers DRMDigital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
solutions for video files and computer software, which enables movie and software publishers to license their movies and software for different use cases such as rental or video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
.
See also
- DeCSSDeCSSDeCSS is a computer program capable of decrypting content on a commercially produced DVD video disc. Before the release of DeCSS, there was no way for computers running a Linux-based operating system to play video DVDs....
- Digital rights managementDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
- License managerLicense managerA license manager is a software management tool used by software vendors or by end-user organizations to control where and how software products are able to run. License managers protect software vendors from losses due to software piracy and enable end-user organizations to enforce compliance with...
- Floating licensingFloating licensingFloating licensing is a software licensing approach in which a limited number of licenses for a software application are shared among a larger number of users over time. When an authorized user wishes to run the application they request a license from a central license server. If a license is...
- Digital Transmission Content ProtectionDigital Transmission Content ProtectionDigital Transmission Content Protection, or DTCP, is a digital rights management technology that aims to restrict "digital home" technologies including DVD players and televisions by encrypting interconnections between devices...
- Product activationProduct activationProduct activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary computer software programs. In one form, product activation refers to a method invented by Ric Richardson and patented by Uniloc where a software application hashes hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific...