How To Protect Online Course Content

To protect online course content such as PDF and video, dire measures are required because plagiarism begins with copy and there are many methods for copying, most of which are enabled by modern web browsers.

Why protection is necessary

Without some form of protection, online courses and lessons can be plagaiarised by anyone to share with others or even sell as their own. Every lesson shared or distributed without authorisation is depriving the author of a chance to recoup their publising costs and earn a living. So protection is necessary to protect the livelihood of all authors and tutors.

Protection solutions

Most lessons in document format are published as PDF because PDF is supported on all devices including mobile phones. Another popular format is video. So it is the protection of PDF and video that we discuss here, and the means of doind that:

Subscription Management

Subscription management usually takes the form of membership access to lessons online wher a login is required to acess and view the lessons. Logged in users can gain access to web pages that are otherwise not accessible to the public. Members can be grouped and specific courses and lessons assigned to each group, for example: mathematics students might only see maths courses and then only those that are prescribed for the individual student's level.

Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and Moodle provide membership plugins to provide more sophisticate memeber optiosn that what are provided with the basic CMS core. Some CMS also provide plugins for Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are specially designed to manage online courses, exams and progress levels.

Digital Rights Management

Digital Rights Management (DRM) goes further than subscription (membership) login requirements to ensure that passwords cannot be shared. A DRM solution can identify each individual user by token file or computer identication, thus ensuring that only authorised users can access course content. However DRM is not something that can be added by using a simply plugin or addon. But there are solutions available that use a plugin to interface with sophicated DRM solutions. For example, WordPress users can add DRM to any web page or post by using the SafeGuard DRM plugin. Another solution that provides DRM, copy-protection and watermarking with secure file hosting is the Guest Video web hosting service. Although the name suggests that it is for video only, Guest Video provides secure hosting for PDF, video and images.

How to Copy Protect PDF

There are many different brands of software available for the copy protection of PDF and most are falsely advertised because they do not prevent copy from many of the different copy techniques that are available to anyone with a computer. For the best PDF protection from all avenues of exploit try:

  • CopySafe PDF Protection - CopySafe PDF software encrypts PDF with options for DRM and copy protection for viewing on a user's desktop and also for display on web pages. DRM can be managed from their online portal. However Copysafe is limited to use by Windows computers. While that may be ideal for closed groups and corporate networks, if support is needed for all devices including mobile, see below.

  • Guest Video - a web hosting service that provides the most secure options for DRM, copy protection and watermaking. Protected media includes PDF, video and images. Guest Video includes file storage and can serve standalone web pages or embed media into existing web pages by using a plugin for CMS like WordPress.

  • SafeGuard Media - uses a plugin for CMS like WordPress to embed PDF for display on existing web pages and posts. While on display nothing can be saved, copied or captured in any way.

How to Copy Protect PDF

The only solutions that are effective in copy protecting video and preventing all methods of copy are:

  • CopySafe Video Protection - CopySafe Video software encrypts video with options for DRM and copy protection for viewing on a user's desktop and also for display on web pages. RM can be managed from their online portal. However Copysafe requires a Windows computers. If support is needed for all devices including mobile, see below.

  • Guest Video - a web hosting service that provides the most secure options for DRM, copy protection and watermaking. Protected media includes PDF, video and images. Guest Video includes file storage and can serve standalone web pages or embed media into existing web pages by using a plugin for CMS like WordPress.

  • SafeGuard Media - uses a plugin for CMS like WordPress to embed video for display on existing web pages and posts. While on display nothing can be saved, copied or captured in any way.

 

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