Widevine

Widevine is a digital rights management (DRM) technology developed by Google that protects the distribution of licensed video and audio content across devices. It provides encryption, license management, and secure decryption to prevent unauthorized copying or playback. Widevine is widely used by streaming services to enable protected playback on web browsers, mobile apps, and connected devices.

The system comprises a content encryption scheme, a license server, and a client-side component known as the Widevine CDM (Content Decryption Module). It integrates with the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) in browsers under the key system identifier com.widevine.alpha. Content providers typically package media for delivery in formats such as MPEG-DASH or encrypted HLS with Widevine protection, and licenses are requested by the client after user authorization to obtain decryption keys.

Widevine defines three security levels for protected playback: L1 is the highest level, requiring hardware-backed security to process and render content; L2 provides a partial level of protection with some secure components but not full hardware isolation; L3 is the software-based level with no guaranteed secure hardware involvement. The chosen level influences risk tolerance and device capabilities.

Platform support includes Google Chrome, Chrome OS, Android devices, and various third-party browsers and TV platforms that implement the Widevine CDM. This broad support has made Widevine a standard DRM option for major streaming services, alongside other systems such as PlayReady and FairPlay.