Google launches Android DRM 2.0

Google is offering developers on its mobile phone operating platform Android live updates on illegitimate use of their applications.   

The licensing service was launched yesterday for developers as part of its effort to better protect their intellectual property.

The free service promises to manage licensing requirements for paid applications that run on Android 1.5 or higher. 

“At run time, with the inclusion of a set of libraries provided by us, your application can query the Android Market licensing server to determine the license status of your users,” according to Eric Chu of Google’s Android Developer Ecosystem. 

Chu reckons Google’s system can protect against unauthorised use better than standard copy protection measures because the service is in real-time and allows developers to choose their own license-enforcement strategies.

The licensing services relies on the Android Market server as opposed to the licensing server itself to determine the status of an application. More details can be found here.