1.3.4 Prelicensing Interface

When using the Precertification interface, the application is required to contact a server that is capable of issuing an RAC for a specific recipient. In an environment with multiple certification services, an application might require an application-specific configuration to determine which certification service to use for each user. If multiple applications prelicense content, an administrator might have to configure this data in independent ways.

The Prelicensing interface shifts this responsibility to the RMS Server. The application can specify a list of recipients by email address and provide a publishing license. The RMS Server will determine the public key for each user and issue a use license for each recipient based on the rights granted in the publishing license. The RMS Server itself can use the Precertification interface of another server to retrieve a public key for a user when their key resides on that server. The Prelicensing interface exposes one request and response message to enable prelicensing via the AcquirePreLicense (section 3.5.4.1) operation.