Glossary

To find a term in the glossary, click the letter of the alphabet that is the first letter in the term you want to look up.

You can also read glossary terms within the text of Help by clicking the underlined glossary term links. After you click a glossary link, the glossary term and definition appear in a pop-up window. To close the window, click anywhere on the screen.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

A

application exclusion

A feature that enables the license issuer to specify the application ID of those players on which to disallow the use of the packaged files.

application revocation

A process by which applications that are known to be damaged or corrupted are prevented from playing any packaged files.

attribute

A name-value data pair.

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B

bit rate

The number of bits transferred per unit of time, typically expressed in bits per second.

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C

challenge

A request for a license. A challenge contains information about the consumer's computer, a list of requested rights, and other information about the content, including the content header and key ID. This challenge can also contain a version 1 challenge in case a version 1 license is needed.

clear content

A Windows Media file that is not encrypted.

consumer

In Windows Media Rights Manager, a person who acquires Windows Media files and requests licenses to play them.

content distributor

The person or organization, such as a vendor, that delivers packaged Windows Media files to consumers.

content header

Part of the file structure of a Windows Media file that contains information necessary for a client computer to decompress and render the content data. In a packaged file, an additional content header exists and contains the key ID, content ID, and license acquisition URL. This content header can also include a required individualization version number and attributes defined by the content provider.

content owner

The person or organization that creates Windows Media files, for example, a record label, a movie studio, or artist.

content packager

The person or organization that uses Windows Media Rights Manager SDK to package Windows Media files. For example, a content owner or content distributor can also perform the role of content packager.

content revocation

A process by which content owners or content packagers can disable licenses for their own packaged files.

See also: content revocation string

content revocation string

A string that is generated by the content owner or content packager and is based on their public and private signing keys. This string is shared with the license issuer, who includes it in all licenses. Computers that receive a license with this string are no longer able to play files packaged with that particular signing key pair.

See also: content revocation, private key, public key

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D

decrypt

To convert encrypted content back into its original form.

See also: encrypt

digital rights management (DRM)

A technology that provides a persistent level of protection to digital content by encrypting it with a cryptographic key. Authorized recipients (or end users) must acquire a license in order to unlock and consume the content.

digital rights management (DRM) component

The component of a player that handles all functions of digital rights management, such as decrypting packaged files or initiating license acquisition.

DRM

See definition for: digital rights management (DRM)

DRM component

See definition for: digital rights management (DRM) component

DRM component exclusion

A feature that enables the license issuer to deny licenses to applications that are using an excluded digital rights management (DRM) component.

See also: DRM component exclusion list

DRM component exclusion list

A list that contains all the public keys of digital rights management (DRM) components known to be damaged or corrupted. This list is stored on each licensing server.

See also: DRM component exclusion

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E

encrypt

To programmatically disguise content to hide its substance.

See also: decrypt

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I

individualization

The process of making the digital rights management (DRM) component in the consumer's player unique. This process increases security by making it difficult to corrupt more than one player at a time. This process is also known as obtaining a security upgrade.

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K

key

A piece of data that is required to unlock a packaged Windows Media file. This key is included in a separate license.

key ID

A value that identifies the key for a protected Windows Media file.

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L

leaf license

The element of a license chain that contains the content key and is bound to a root license.

license

Data attached to protected content that describes how the content can be used.

license acquisition

The process of obtaining a license to play a packaged Windows Media file. The player attempts to obtain a license from a license acquisition URL, which is specified in the Windows Media file.

license acquisition URL

The URL that points to the first Web page that appears in the license acquisition process. A license acquisition URL is included in each packaged Windows Media file; when a consumer tries to play a Windows Media file that is not licensed, the player opens the license acquisition URL to acquire a license.

license chain

A license for digital media content that is composed of connected elements that include a root license and one or more leaf licenses, each of which contains a subset of rights for the content.

license issuer

The person or organization that uses the Windows Media Rights Manager SDK to issue licenses for packaged Windows Media files, for example, a license clearing house.

license key seed

A shared secret value that is used to generate keys to encrypt Windows Media files.

license management

A feature of the Windows Media Rights Manager SDK that enables consumers to back up the licenses for their Windows Media files and restore them to the same computer or to different computers. The restoration process is managed by Microsoft License Management Service, which limits the number of times a license can be restored to prevent fraud.

License Management Service

The Microsoft service that runs the license management process in the Windows Media Rights Manager Software Development Kit (SDK).

license revocation

The process of removing licenses from a user's computer.

license revocation acknowledgement

A signed confirmation from a client computer to a licensing server indicating that licenses were revoked.

license revocation challenge

A request from a client computer to a licensing server for license revocation.

license revocation response

A response to a license revocation challenge indicating which licenses to remove from a user's computer.

license store

An area on a computer where licenses are stored.

licensing server

A computer that runs Windows Media License Service and issues licenses.

See also: Windows Media License Service

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M

metering aggregation service

A service that collects and processes metering data.

metering certificate

An XML string that contains the ID and URL for a metering aggregation service.

metering challenge

Metering data from one computer or portable device, indicating how many times protected digital media files were used. The metering challenge is sent to a metering aggregation service by a computer or portable device.

metering response

A confirmation from a metering aggregation service that metering data was successfully reported by a computer or portable device.

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O

output protection level

A setting in a license that indicates which technologies can be used to play or copy protected digital media content.

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P

packaged Windows Media file

A Windows Media file encrypted with a key, which consumers cannot play unless they have a key provided by a license. A packaged Windows Media file is produced by and protected through the implementation of digital rights management using the Windows Media Rights Manager Software Development Kit (SDK) or a program based on the Microsoft Windows Media Format SDK.

packaging

The process that protects and signs a Windows Media file, producing a packaged Windows Media file. The packaging process includes generating or specifying a key, generating and signing the content header, and then encrypting the Windows Media file with this information.

packaging server

A computer used for packaging Windows Media files.

player

A client program or control that receives digital media content streamed from a server or played from local files. Windows Media Player is an example of a player.

portable device

A mobile electronic device that can exchange files or other data with a computer or device. Examples of portable devices include Pocket PCs, portable digital music players, and Smartphones.

portable license

A license that is created when a packaged Windows Media file is transferred to a portable device. The portable license is located on the portable device, and contains rights that are specified in the original license.

private key

The secret half of a public/private key pair used in cryptography. Private keys are typically used to encrypt a symmetric session key, digitally sign a message, or decrypt a message that has been encrypted with the corresponding public key.

See also: content revocation string, public key

protect

To encrypt files with a key and add information such as the license acquisition URL.

public key

The non-secret half of a public/private key pair used in cryptography. Public keys are typically used to encrypt sessions, files, and messages, which are then decrypted using the corresponding private key.

See also: content revocation string, private key

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R

Red Book audio format

A standard compact disc format developed by Philips and Sony.

revocation list

A list that contains all the application certificates of those player applications known to be damaged or corrupted. This list is included in licenses and then is stored on consumers' computers by the digital rights management (DRM) component of the player application.

root license

The element of a license chain that is bound to a computer and is required to decrypt the content key in the leaf license.

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S

SDMI

See definition for: Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)

SDMI-compliant

Adhering to the rules described in the SDMI specification. Used to describe a portable device or software module.

Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)

An organization that sets standards for secure digital music. One of the main goals of SDMI is to create a framework for the secure playing, storing, and distribution of digital music.

security upgrade

The process of making the digital rights management (DRM) component in the consumer's player unique. This process increases security by making it difficult to corrupt more than one player at a time. This process is also known as individualization.

sign

To bind an identity, such as a network login, hardware ID, or certificate, to a message, file, or other piece of digitally encoded information.

silent delivery

To deliver licenses without the consumer being aware of the process. A server running Windows Media License Service can issue a license without prompting the consumer.

stream

Digital media that is in the process of being delivered in a continuous flow across a network.

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U

uplink ID

The key ID of the root element in the license chain.

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W

Windows Media file

A file that contains audio, video, or script data. The content of the file is encoded with one of the Windows Media codecs.

Windows Media License Service

A component of the Windows Media Rights Manager SDK that provides license acquisition services.

See also: licensing server

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