ArtistScope DRM for PDF - User Guide
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How it works
ArtistScope DRM manages access to documents by checking and
validating the access privileges assigned to a user. For a user to be
allowed access, at least their email address needs to be listed in your
database as a starting point for when they validate their computer using
the CopySafe PDF Reader.
Adding new users
Users can be added automatically from an eBook purchase or manually
by the author. Authors can manually add new users with their full
details or they can use the "Quick Add" feature which only requires an
email address for the server to complete initiation by sending their
details by email.
User identity lock down
Authors have the option of locking a user's first and last names,
once they have been set, to prevent changes that may prevent familiarity
of a user as in the case of a teacher-student relationship. User name
lockdown can be applied by group and will affect all users in that
group.
User computer validation
Each user is recorded as a unique identity from their computer
signature. The very first time that a user opens one of your DRM
protected documents, they will be prompted for their username (email
address) and password for the system to assign their computer signature
to their account. Once validated a user will not be prompted again
unless they change computers.
Computer lock down
To prevent account sharing, authors have the option of preventing
computer signature updates and changes (once set) without their
approval.
Computer IDs can be locked for individual users.
Subscription billing
Authors have the option expiring user accounts by date to enable
subscription billing. Likewise, the admin of a DRM portal can apply
subscription billing to authors. When a user's account expires they will
not be able to open DRM protected documents or log into the portal. When
an author's account expires their documents will be frozen. Expiration
only applies when the expiry date is set. Leaving it blank removes
expiration.
Billing by period
Billing by period can be chargeable monthly, quarterly or yearly,
during which time the author/user has unlimited access. At the end of
the period the account will need to be renewed to continue access to the
protected documents.
Billing by validation hits
Billing by "hits" means that every time a protected document is
accessed, the usage count is decreased by one hit. These accounts are
paid in advance for 100-1,000 hits and the usage is subtracted from the
balance. For example if an author prepays 500 hits then his account will
start with 500 credits. Each time his document is accessed by a
different user his account will have 1 hit deducted. When hits in credit
are used up the user/author can renew the account by purchasing more
hits or changing the account type to billing by period.
Uploading
While access rights to view a document can be restricted per unique
computer, access to your upload pages can be gained from any computer in
the world, even from an internet cafe. No special software is required
on your computer because it is provided from this server. After
uploading you have different options depending on the file type that you
uploaded for the file type that you want to it converted into.
Conversion types
A lot of document converters can produce rubbish. Some may read OK, but
they may not survive encryption. For this reason ArtistScope DRM no
longer converts all file types to PDF, so you need to upload an already
converted PDF document. Likewise many PDF converters can produce rubbish
and even Adobe Acrobat version 9 and later no longer conform to accepted
PDF standards. By all means do use Adobe Acrobat 9 or later, but to be
on the safe side, save or export your PDF so that it's compatible with
Adobe Reader version 8 or lower.
Copy protected PDF
Our server side software will encrypt and convert your PDF to CopySafe
PDF format which is safe from all copying, printing, Prinstscreen and
screen capture. This option enables distribution to anyone with CopySafe
PDF Reader installed which is a free download to the public.
DRM protected PDF
DRM protected PDFs enjoy all of the above mentioned copy protection
features plus more. When converted to DRM your document can only be read
by the persons that you entitle. You can limit the number of times it
can be viewed or how many times it is printed. And you can change these
permissions at any time with immediate effect.
Document types
The most secure method for copy protecting images and documents for
distribution is by encrypting for use with our proprietary PDF reader.
.ENC documents
Documents in .ENC format are lightweight library
files that can be read by anyone with the CopySafe PDF Reader installed.
Use .ENC documents where you have a regular readers who already have the
reader installed.
.EXE documents
Creating documents in .EXE format is no longer supported due to the problems with most mail services
when sending executables attached to emails or emails containing links to executables.
Setting document
permissions
Each registered author can set user access permissions on document for:
- Expiry date
- Password
- Number of views allowed
- Number of prints allowed
Authors with admin permissions can set all of the above plus:
- Edit all documents including those of their members
- Add new members and edit
- Add new groups and edit
Account rules
To cater for the maximum possibility of variations in groups, accounts
and documents:
- Every account must have a unique username (email address) per
computer
- Each database is limited to 999,999 users
- Each database is limited to 999,999 groups
- Each database is limited to 999,999 documents
- Each database is limited to 999,999 web pages
The same web site or server can host an unlimited number of databases,
for example one database for each author account who may have up to
999,999 users each, extending the scope of your DRM solution to cater
for every one in the world from a single domain.
Admin rights
Admin rights vary according to user status and group. For example a
demo account can:
- Add and edit new user accounts but cannot make them active
- Upload and create documents and web pages for their own group
- Edit their own documents and pages
- Send test emails to their own email address
- View their own gallery and documents
- View all documents and pages assigned to their group
Any author with admin permissions (but not a demo account) can:
- Create their own group
- Add and edit users belonging to any groups which they are a
member of
- Set access levels to users, groups and documents that belong to
their groups
- View, add and edit all documents and pages where they are author
- View and edit all documents and pages that are active in their
groups
- Send newsletter emails to all groups and users which they author
- Customize the look of the pages used by their users and groups
- View statistics on their pages and documents and reset their
users' hit counts
- Set expiration and renew subscription dates for all users in
their groups
The owner has absolute control over all aspects plus:
- Set new memberships for auto approval when validated by email or
approve by admin
- Enable or ban access by IP number or network group
- Enable or suspend any group, user, document or web page
- Move users, documents and pages to different groups
- View statistics on all pages and documents including failed
validations
Expiry date
When setting expiration on a protected PDF for public distribution, the
expiry date is embedded in the encrypted document and is final... it
cannot be changed without uploading the original and re-converting.
However when setting expiration for a DRM document, the expiry date is
stored on record and can be changed at any time. When choosing to use an
expiry date you have 2 options:
- date and time validated by an online time server
- date and time according to the user's computer clock.
Note that using validation by time server is most recommended
because then the end user cannot foil expiry by turning back the
clock/date on their computer. The less secure option of using the user's
computer for time cha\ecks has been included for clients who have
technicians in the field without internet connectivity.
Expiry dates by time server will expire at midnight of that
day according to GMT. Local time checks will expire a document by the
time on the user's computer.
IP ban and networks allowed
Users can be banned by IP number or network and exceptions to the rule
can be set. For example you can ban a network but permit an individual
IP number. Likewise you can allow a network and ban a single IP from it.
For example to ban an ISP you can set 100.100.100 or 100.100. You can
also set 100. but be warned that you will also ban any IP numbers or
networks that contain "100". In the main settings file for the DRM site
you can set to allow all networks except those listed, or deny all
networks except those listed.
Password
Setting a password for a document only applies if it's not converted for
DRM options. If a password is applied to a copy protected document (not
DRM) then it is embedded into the document.
Users and groups
Permissions can be assigned to groups and/or users. Documents can be
assigned to a single group and multiple users. Web pages can be assigned
per group only so that they can get a menu of all pages assigned to
their group.
Print limitation
When converting a document for DRM the number of prints allowed per user
or group can be limited. DRM print limits can be varied at an time.
Image quality
For the best quality do not use compressed images or images of low
resolution. It's also best to avoid using GIF images in documents
because when viewed at smaller or higher percentages of the actual
document size, the images may not look so good. JPG and PNG are good but
BMP will look better all round when the page is varied in size.
Email distribution
From your document menu you can select a file to send to your readers by
email as a newsletter. You have the option to select which users or
groups to send to and which file format to send. The best practice is to
send a test email to yourself first so that you can check the output.
Email templates
The newsletter function uses different templates for download links and
attachments to which you can add custom messages applicable to the
document. The contact details sent with the email are drawn from the
settings in your Preferences.
Zipping executables for email
A lot of mail servers today employ spam and virus filters which may not
allow executable files (.exe) as attachments. Antivirus programs on an
end users' computer may not allow any attachment in an email unless it
is in ZIP format, so the best practice is sending all attachments in ZIP
format which also reduces the file size by compression.
Maintenance
As an administrator (owner) you have total control over who uses your
distributables and what functions are available to your users. You also
have the choice of allowing automatic account approvals (email
validation required) or being notified by email when a new user signs up
for an account so that you can allow disallow their access, assign to
select groups or set other restrictions.
Maintaining consistency
The key linking your DRM console and your end readers is the file
itself. It is unique and there cannot be any duplicates. You can
overwrite documents but you cannot add the same document twice. So
before distributing a document, make sure that you proof read it and
test the download links etc. Once a document is distributed any changes
to the files stored on the server or their permissions could affect your
readers accessibility. For example if the earlier version had different
users assigned as authorized readers, if they are not set on the updated
document then readers with the first version will not be able to view
the new document.
File update and overwrite
Modification to existing documents is not recommended, especially after
distribution to your readers. However a document's details can be
modified by selecting the "Edit" link beside its entry in your document
menu. To update the actual document file requires that you upload an
original file of the same name.
When you upload a new file to replace an existing one, until it's saved
to the database, the protected version will not be updated. If also
providing links to the originals, by not completing the sequence past
"update existing file" will enable you to update the original file only
(word, xls, pdf).
Statistics and usage counts
Registered authors can view the hits on their documents and if needed
reset the usage count for individual users.
The exception to the rule is if the visitor is either the
site administrator, an admin for the Group that the document belongs to,
or is the author of that Group or document, then the total hit count
will be 0... enabling authors and administrators to check, edit and test
their deliverables without being penalized.
Copyright
ArtistScope DRM is an original innovation by ArtistScope, who devises
solutions for artists and authors to protect their livelihood. If there
is any similarity between ArtistScope DRM and what others may be
offering then you need to realize that most traders in the copy
protection industry today are merely intellectual property thieves, and
they all use ArtistScope as their role model. |
Webmaster's Note:
ArtistScope DRM is unlike other DRM solutions because it does not use tokens or certificates
which can be exploited, and performing a web search on
"remove DRM from eBooks", "remove DRM from PDF"
or
"extract password from PDF" will confirm just
how easy that is. Instead
ArtistScope DRM uses a remote access server (RAS) to
manage user access rights and privileges. Because
ArtistScope DRM utilizes live validation, authors have total
control over user rights and document properties with
immediate effect over any changes, even on documents
that have already been downloaded to the user's
computer. |
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