What is digital rights management? How is it implemented for streaming services platforms?

If you plan to distribute content that is propreitary or non intended to be free, the content is encrypted using Digital Rights Management(DRM) technologies

DRM supports wide range of business models e.g. subscription, rental, gifting,  enabling as well as restricting playback

Key DRM players in the market- Microsoft Playready, Google Widevine, DivX, Apple fairplay etc.

For most playback services, the content packaging service communicates with the DRM platform to acquire encryption keys. Once encrypted, the protected web content is sent to the webserver for distribution

During playback, the player sends a license request to the content owners proxy which communicates with the authentication process running on customer website.

The proxy communicates with the DRM platform to create a decryption key which is returned to the customers proxy proxy and ultimately to the video player. In case of downloadable content, the verification happens before the download with any playback rights and restrictions