Web App DRM provides developers with an easy way to integrate flexible licensing with their web applications. In addition to established licensing schemes, an application or content provider can define flexible licensing models for promotional and other purposes. A business application may allow only limited access to premium content with an unregistered application on weekdays, but allow full premium access over the weekend as an incentive to buy the full version. A full license can, for instance, carry the extra to allow everyone connected to the owner on a social networking site to access additional levels on the free demo. Site licenses can be provided based on user e-mail or IP addresses.
Using a sandboxed license evaluation system, licenses can be granted or denied based on personalized user information (such as connections on social networking sites) without exposing this information to the application provider, thus addressing potential user concerns about privacy Issues.
By using a one-time ticketing system, Web App DRM can also regulate access to content hosted on third party sites without the need to expose user identities to that site.
- Functions and Features
- Aimed at web applications
- Flexible licensing for web applications
- Licensing conditions fully scriptable
- Opportunity for unique promotional licensing conditions
- Licenses for full applications, application parts or content access
- Easy to use and integrate in web applications
- Access to web content via ticketing system
- Licenses not only for application use, but also for content access
- Social network based licensing
- Site based licensing
- Privacy concerns of users are addressed
- Personalized information only present on the Web App DRM server
- Web App DRM Licensing Process
When starting a web application on a device, the device sends a licensing request to the Web App DRM server, including a unique application ID, user ID and any arbitrary payload information by the application.
The Web App DRM server then evaluates the licensing request, based on the licensing conditions provided by the application developer, and either grants or denies the license. On granting of a license, the Web App DRM server creates a non-personalized one-time ticket, containing only information about the application, the license type and issuing time.
For web applications accessing only local content, the receiving of the ticket is usually deemed sufficient to grant access (even though the validity of ticket can be confirmed by a server chosen by the developer to avoid spoofing).
If a web application needs to access remote content, which is often the case, the application can pass the ticket on to the content provider, who can validate the ticket against the Web App DRM server and grant access to the content based on the result.