Microsoft Rights Management Coming to Third-Party Apps

Microsoft Corp.’s rights management technology is coming to a host of third-party desktop and line-of-business applications—with or without the blessing of the app vendors themselves.

Microsoft introduced last year its Rights Management Services (RMS) solution, designed to control the digital distribution of documents. Since then, several services and infrastructure firms, such as EDS, Digex, Reciprocal, GigaMedia Access and SyncCast, have announced plans to back Microsoft’s platform. But none of the largest independent software vendors (ISVs) has done so.

But who needs ISVs?

Data-security vendor Liquid Machines announced Wednesday that it will RMS-enable a number of key desktop and back-end applications, including Adobe’s Acrobat, AutoDesk’s AutoCAD, Documentum’s content-management system, PeopleSoft’s human-resources system, SAP’s ERP system and Siebel’s CRM. It also will RMS-enable Office XP and Office 2000—two of Microsoft’s own products that the Redmond, Wash., company has not included in its RMS coverage plans.

RMS is designed to control documents, as opposed to audio/video content that is typically controlled via digital rights management systems. Indeed, Microsoft’s RMS platform is completely separate from the DRM system that is built into its Windows Media System.

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