Patent ID: 8117666

Claim:
One or more electronically-accessible storage media devices comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising: receiving a request for a file, the request received by a program in a kernel mode and sent by an application in a user mode; examining the requested file for digital rights management (DRM) controls; ascertaining whether the requested file is associated with at least one complex DRM content control; if the requested file is associated with at least one complex DRM content control then validating whether the requesting application is a trusted DRM application that has been appropriately signed, and if signed, returning content to the application in the user mode without decryption; otherwise if the requested file is not associated with at least one complex DRM content control, performing actions comprising: determining whether a user has access to the requested file, the determining based on DRM; and if the user is determined to have access to the requested file, then decrypting the requested file; and otherwise if the user is not determined to have access to the requested file, then terminating the received request; wherein at least the actions of examining and ascertaining are performed by one or more file system components within the kernel mode.