Once upon a time, I bought a movie and it played everywhere in my home

As digital media replaces analog, consumers are beginning to discover that their devices no longer interoperate in the way they were accustomed to. For example, they may find it impossible to transfer a DVR-recorded show onto a portable media player from a different manufacturer. Content creators are weary from supporting myriad ecosystems, each with different rules, restrictions, DRM systems, and file formats. To address these issues, IBM has developed the Advanced Secure Content Cluster Technology (ASCCT), which provides the highest levels of DRM protections for content owners, while at the same time being completely invisible to the user, allowing them to freely move, play, and backup content from any and all ASCCT devices within their home network. We describe the plug-and-play automatic construction of an interoperable secure cluster of heterogeneous devices using a minimal message protocol. Copyright 2011 ACM.