CertiVox, a start-up founded by ex-executives - one from RSA Security and McAfee, another from DAT Group and altaVENTE Ltd. - is going against the grain and traditional methods used to offer DRM by selling a personal distribution network service not to businesses, but end users themselves.
Start-up launches personal distribution network
CertiVox, with either the free version or commercial plan at $19.99 USD a month, officially went public on their security service that offers users their own distribution network, enabling them to deliver, track, audit and totally control the usage of their content – such as documents, media, other files - without the overhead from the IT infrastructure normally seen with such DRM efforts.
Those using the service can gain access to DRM controls that will prevent documents from being printed or moved to USB drives. In addition, they can enable controls that will prevent forwarding the content to others outside the distribution group, as well as "do not print," "kill switch" and "burn after reading" controls to name a few.
“When my friends and I thought about the company we wanted to create, we all agreed we would want it to be the opposite of most I.T. companies in existence today,” said co-founder Brian Spector, CEO of CertiVox in a company blog post.
“We wanted to create an information security platform that had a direct relationship with the customers and communities it served and protected, that lived and died by how well it solved the needs of customers and communities.”
While they offer a free version of their service, there’s still a business model in place to generate income. “On free accounts, CertiVox will do this from sponsorships and branding on top of the secured and packaged content sent through our network,” Spector noted, adding that the branding model is designed so that no privacy or security is sacrificed.
The service is aimed at lawyers, consultants and healthcare professionals, and even social networking users. The idea is that privacy and content control is the right of everyone, and not a select few. So if you have something you want to share, or control, you can with a worry free solution.
At the same time, DRM is seen by many online to be an invention that is abused by big business. An example of one DRM catastrophe comes from a video game, Assassins Creed 2, where an always on Internet connection is needed to use the game, infuriating many players. Yet, businesses have a right to protect their interests.
CertiVox will likely serve the single professional and typical online consumer better than it would a major corporation, such as the lawyer protecting information emailed to clients, or small doctor's office that needs to comply with HIPPA as they talk with patients online.
“I've spent my entire career in information security. The problem has always been making data protection easy enough and affordable so that the average computer user could have some control over their information for all situations,” Spector said.
He believes his company is the answer to that problem. We wish him and his partner Tim Carmichael luck.
It’s taken a year of testing and work, but you can register for a free account online here. www.certivox.com
[Note: The Tech Herald is not affiliated with CertiVox, but we do find the solution interesting. While we see both the up and downside to DRM, we think that the average Internet user has the right to expect some measure of privacy and control over the content they produce online. We’ll let the newness wear off and test this for ourselves in the near future.]
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