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Some videos, like those on Netflix can be streamed, but cannot be downloaded. Can I do a similar thing with videos stored on a flash drive? I want to prevent the videos from being copied.

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    If a file can be viewed it can be copied.
    – Keltari
    Nov 1, 2018 at 20:05
  • You want to offer streaming for you're videos? If so where?
    – Albin
    Nov 1, 2018 at 20:08
  • It is possible to create a video with DRM that cannot be played without a license, but it can still be copied: docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/wmformat/… . Creating an encrypted Zip file might be used, too. Nov 1, 2018 at 20:51
  • “Some videos, like those on Netflix can be streamed, but cannot be downloaded.” Directly, the video stream can’t hijacked. But if you can do a screen recording of a video, then guess what? You made a copy of an “uncopyable” video. Nov 1, 2018 at 23:59

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The problem is that only way for the video to be viewable from the USB drive requires the data to be read, and if it can be read to play, it can be read to be copied.

Any data security problem is a question first of what you are trying to protect from, and then how far you are willing to go for that protection to work. The more types of illicit copy you attempt to prevent, the more onerous you make the video playing process.

The closest thing to what you're looking for would be the sorts of embedded player and video packages exported by security camera systems. Many of these are a single large executable which includes both the player and the video content in a proprietary format without the ability to export. However, as others have mentioned, all it takes to overcome even this sort of protection is the ability to record what is happening on the screen.

So, to put it simply: good luck.

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  • It is fine for me if someone screen records the video, I just don't want it to be copied and pasted it's another storage device. So what are the technical steps? Nov 5, 2018 at 13:35
  • Step1: Research. Step 2: Choose a solution that meets your requirements. Step 3: Implement. Nov 5, 2018 at 16:13

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