SDK to encode media with FairPlay DRM?

Question

My company runs a video website. We currently make our content available via streaming, and download to Windows PCs with WMRM DRM. We're looking to make content available to download for Macs but would need to protect them with the FairPlay DRM system.

Is this something that we can do, or is FairPlay proprietary and only permitted to be encoded by Apple? Is there a Windows-based SDK/toolkit available to enable us to expand our encoder software to be able to create FairPlay protected files? I'd prefer an SDK so we can develop an in-process solution rather than having to call an executable.

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(PS: I know DRM is not popular, but it's not our call, it's the studios. So we have the choice of either making downloads available with DRM or not making downloads available at all. Please don't reply with answers like "DRM is bad" or "DRM is not the answer" because that's not my call, or even my company's call.)

Answer 1

No, other than by distributing your content via iTunes, it is not possible to use FairPlay:

"Apple has concluded," Jobs said, "that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses."

The only cross-platform DRM that was ever announced is RealNetworks Helix, which was discontinued in 2007. Despite open-sourcing some Helix technology, and some vague noises about DRM from those quarters, I don't think a working product was ever released.

WMDRM or "something Flash-based" are the only real options when it comes to content protection, with majors generally only accepting the former when it comes to "download to own" scenarios. Indies typically don't care about DRM at all, fortunately.