Digital Rights Management

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technology that allows for the secure management of digital media. This security protects the content from unauthorised distribution and viewing.
Each video is encrypted with DRM that can only be unlocked if you have been authorized to view the file. It also prevents the copying of the file.

Usually, a DRM license will be delivered to your computer automatically when you pay for and play African Film Library content. If this is the first time you've ever tried to play DRM licensed content on your computer, you may be asked for permission to download security upgrades from Microsoft. This process should start automatically, but you will need to click 'Yes' or 'OK' when asked to permit the upgrade. If you don't permit the upgrade, African Film Library content may not play.

You cannot copy a video file over to another computer.

Users can run into problems with DRM license acquisition for several different reasons. We have outlined the most common problems below along with suggested steps for you to take:

• Internet Congestion: Unavoidable variations in Internet traffic between your location and our servers, or unexpectedly heavy use of our servers, can cause your computer to give up trying to get a DRM license before our server is able to deliver one. This is often the case when you've been able to obtain a DRM license recently for other content of ours on the same computer. The best solution in this case is to wait and try to access our content again later.

• Slow Internet Connectivity: The recommended Internet speed to use our service reliably is 500kbps. Slower connections can cause your computer to give up trying to get a DRM license before our server is able to deliver one. You can test the speed of your Internet for free at: http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest • Cookies and Temporary Internet Files: It's possible that the cookies on your system or some of the temporary files are causing a conflict with The African Film Library service and its DRM licenses. To clear your cookies and temporary files: o Open Internet Explorer - Click on Tools > Internet Options - On the "General" tab, click "Clear Cookies" and then "Delete Files". Close all Internet Explorer windows and then open it again and login to your account. • Firewalls and Proxy Servers: Firewalls and proxy servers have been known to impede the DRM license delivery process. If you have a firewall running (Zone Alarm, Black Ice, Windows XP firewall, etc.) we suggest that you completely disable it while accessing our content. As this can be dangerous we recommend that you list the portal in your exclusion list. If you are connecting from an office or other location with a system administrator, you should contact that person for information about disabling them. If you are running the Windows XP SP2 Firewall, you can disable it by: o Clicking on Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Security Center - Select "Off" to temporarily disable the firewall. • Pop-Up Blockers: We highly recommend temporarily disabling or permanently allowing pop-ups from this site, as these pop-up blockers can interfere with the delivery of DRM licenses, playing content and the overall user experience.

Generally, yes. When you first try to play a downloaded media item a DRM license will be distributed to you and stored on your computer. As long as that license remains on that computer, and it has not expired, you will not need another license to watch that same piece of content. But each piece of content (each film for example) can require its own license.